History of Batiks
According to legend, an Indonesian king married a beautiful princess, but soon she was very lonely because the king was always busy with his many duties. His wife had a lot of time on her hands, for she had many servants and nothing to do. As a way of dealing with her lonliness and in an attempt to attract her husband's attention, the queen looked for things to do and began creating patterns and drawings on cotton fabric. She took dyes made from indigo and other local plants and using a tool called a canting (pronounced chanting) she created beautiful batik fabrics. As she progressed with her craft, the designs became more intricate and were very beautiful. One day the king noticed her work. He was amazed by the beauty of the fabrics. He praised her for her work and their love grew. He visited her often to see the wonderful designs she had created. And so they lived in their kraton or palace for many happy years. When you look closely at batik designs, you will find flowers and stars which represent their love and hope. Some of the designs are still used today.
Links to sites describing the traditional methods for making batik fabrics:
Batik, Traditional Fabric of Indonesia
Find beautiful quilting fabrics and textiles at our Murray, Kentucky, fabric store for quilters. Find beautiful Indonesian traditional design and Bali batik fabrics at our online fabric store for quilters and others who love fabrics. We also have patterns that we've found work well with our fabrics! Just click on the link to the left for our online store and discover a whole world of batiks.