Making a Batik Skirt Panel

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The batik technique originated in Laos as a method of decorating cloth for skirts, all of which are constructed from three individual panels. Typically only one skirt panel is decorated with batik designs that weavers pass from one generation to the next.

Most batik designs actually originated in China, the Hmong ancestral home. Weavers draw these designs on purchased cotton cloth, then apply hot beeswax over the drawn lines to prevent the carefully constructed patterns from absorbing any dye. Weavers then prepare the dye in which they will submerge the decorated panel. Indigo branches are soaked one week in cold water, turning the liquid solution a brilliant deep blue. Heated limestone is then placed in the dye water; after the limestone dissolves the resulting sediment is removed and preserved as a dye powder. The cloth is then repeatedly dipped in powdered dye-and-water solutions and dried for up to two days.

The wax covering the designs is removed by dipping the dyed fabric into hot water, producing patterns on the cloth that beautifully contrast with the darker background.