Start to Batik

Start to Batik 
By Rosi Robinson
Published by Search Press
ISBN: 9781844483532
Price: £6.99
Reviewed by Lois Parker

This book would be an excellent one to have for inspiration for students if you were running workshops or at school. It has clear step-by-step instructions on how to produce a number of vivid designs, including how to batik a canvas shopping bag – very topical for ethical shoppers avoiding plastic bags. 

It would be particularly useful for people who have tried batik before, but don’t have the confidence in developing a design of their own.  It shows the colour building with successive dyes very well, an area which could be daunting for people who are not used to mixing their own colours.

However, it is less suitable as a guide for the complete novice attempting to do batik for the first time alone at home. Batik is essentially a very simple process, but it does involve use of hot wax, which is easily managed with a thermostatically controlled wax pot but less easy with normal kitchen equipment. It is also a very drawn out process, as you have to wait between dyes for the fabric to dry. If you hadn’t tried batik before then you would probably find this book assumed too much of this basic knowledge. Try a class, borrow a friend’s equipment, or try something simple with wax heated in a tin can in simmering water on the stove and paint-on dyes first, then you will feel able to tackle the projects in this book.

You can read Lois’s complete guide to Batik for beginners here.