Batik and other pattern dyeing

by Walter Davis Baker; Ida Strawn Baker

PATTERN DYEING

The preceding general principles have been outlined with all-over dyeing especially in mind. We now come to the consideration of pattern dyeing, where in order to produce a design it is necessary to dye chosen parts of the fabric and keep the dye away from other parts. All that has been said with reference to making all-over dyeing efficient applies equally well to pattern dyeing. If possible, everything that is done to make all-over dyeing successful should be done in pattern dyeing to obtain a corresponding success.

Practically, however, we find it impossible to carry out some of the steps. For example, in the usual block printing, we do not have the problem of handling the fabric in a dye-bath, but rather that of handling dye on the fabric. Here we must take special steps to get the dye well into the fiber and secure the results obtained from the large dye-bath in all-over dyeing.

The fabric must be prepared for pattern dyeing in the same manner as for all-over dyeing. It is just as essential that it be clean, free of sizing, with its fibers soft and absorbent. Attention has been called to the pains taken by the Orientals in the preparation of their fabrics for decoration. We must not jeopardize our success by omitting to boil out new raw material and to clean old material.

This washing before dyeing also brings about any shrinkage that is to occur, and of course this must be done before the design is traced on the cloth, otherwise one could not intelligently work to dimensions.

A dyed pattern may be produced in several ways:

1. The dye is applied to the desired parts of the fabric and means taken to set it there without it spreading to other parts. This is known as direct coloring. Block printing and stenciling, as ordinarily done, are examples. Calico printing is an industrial application of the method.

2. A resist of some kind is applied to parts of the fabric to prevent their taking the dye, after which the fabric is treated in a dye-bath. Batik decoration and tie-dyed work both fall in this class. Stencils and print blocks may also be used in the application of the resist.

3. A “discharge” is put on parts of previously dyed goods, which either removes the color where it touches, or else alters the shade. Different discharges are used according to the nature of the dye and the goods. Some chemicals used as discharges are liable, unless skillfully handled, to attack and tender the cloth. The method belongs rather to the industrial world where abundant apparatus and trained dyeing chemists are available. It is not, however, beyond the skill of a good craftsman who has acquired some experience with dyes.

The dye for direct coloring is applied in liquid form, sometimes thickened into a paste by use of gums, starch, etc. Often mordants or other assisting chemicals are incorporated into the mixture. In block printing this color mixture is brushed on the block, which is then imprinted on the fabric in the desired place, and the color driven into the fiber with pressure or a sharp blow. Stenciling is done by brushing the color mixture through the open parts of the stencil, or by blown stenciling in which a volatile color mixture is sprayed with an atomizer.

The best method of setting the dyes in this direct coloring is that pursued commercially in calico printing, treatment with dry steam, i.e., steam applied at a temperature sufficiently high to prevent its condensation into drops of hot water on the fabric, which would be quite ruinous to the design. This is done successfully by Oriental craftsmen, and it would be very desirable to have suitable apparatus in American schools and studios.

Next best, though considerably less efficient, is the commonly practiced method of laying the fabric between dampened cloths and pressing with a hot iron until dry.

The resist method has an advantage in that it allows the use of a dye-bath. The limitation of temperatures that may be used places some restriction on the choice of dyes. Batik dyeing must be done without melting the wax resist. But after eliminating those dyes which require high temperatures and also those not suitable for pattern dyeing, there still remains a good range of colors. Batik is without doubt the most versatile of all methods of pattern dyeing.

Tie-dyed work depends upon tightly wound string or yarn to resist the dye. It also has the advantage of the dye-bath. Though less versatile than batik, it has a time-honored place as a method of beautiful and charming results. The introduction of sticks over which the tying is done, such sticks as are used by the children in stick printing, has opened new problems with added variety and much interest.