March 25, 2016

First Journey to Batik-tutorial ever!


As you might have noticed it has been quiet on my blog lately. With everything that is going on in the world I find it hard to write about the pretty stuff. But maybe we need some pretty stuff. And maybe not just to watch, but to make yourself. 
I present my first ever Journey to Batik-tutorial!
As an artist I love making things. Not only Art works, but also little presents and fun sustainable things I spot online. Making things, makes you relax, happy and focussed. We don't need to create big artworks to achieve this feeling, just let your hands create.
With this tutorial I hope to share my joy of making and to stay in theme with this weekend my first tutorial will be about Easter Eggs. And not any kind of Easter Eggs. Easter Eggs based on Pysanky, inspired by Batik. With a Tie-dye finish.
Last year I gave a workshop with Easter creating these eggs. It was a fun day and the results were all lovely. So time to explain how you can make these Easter eggs. And if Easter is not your thing, I'm sure it is a nice way to decorate eggs just for fun or another special occasion like Batik Day.


To make these Batik Tie-dye Eggs you need the following items:
- hardboiled eggs (note: check the label, to make sure you buy eggs from happy chicken)
- colour tablets for Easter Eggs (if you want to make these eggs in another season, make sure to buy some extra!)
- vinegar 
- 5 containers to mix the colours in
- yarn
- crayon (note: you can use any coloured crayon, but with the colourless one you get the nicest Batik effect)
- spoons
- old newspaper / old towel

Step 1


Boil the eggs and let them cool off. Put one tablet in each container (usually you have 5 colours: yellow, orange, red, green and blue), add the vinegar (2 tablespoons) and boiled water (1/4 liter). Stir until the tablet is dissolved. 
Draw on the eggs with the crayon. If you use the colourless you won't see clearly what you draw until you put the egg in the dye. So it is easier to make lines, circles and dots first to try-out the effect. The first drawing you make will stay the colour of the egg. 


Step 2


Dye the eggs a first time. They have to stay in the dye for about 5 minutes. In this time you can draw on new eggs, depending on how many eggs you want to eat on Sunday. 
Use a clean spoon, or a spoon for every container, to take the eggs out. In this way the colours won't mix and your hands stay clean. You can wear gloves to handle the freshly dyed eggs, but for drawing on them the gloves are not so handy. Let the eggs dry before starting with Step 3.


Step 3


For this step you can do three different things. Draw again on the egg with the colourless crayon. Remember that this line will now hold the colour of its current colour. You can play with adding lines next to where you have drawn before. It is easier to see were you started, if you follow the drawing in white. 
Instead of drawing on the egg, create a colour effect with yarn. Wrap yarn around the egg. Don't make it to tight, because you can break the shell. Don't make a knot, this makes it easier to remove and to re-use the yarn. And make sure to add enough layers. 
Or combined these two, draw first with the crayon and then put some yarn around the egg. 
Time for colour layer number two. You can put the egg in any other of the colours.  You can play with matching colours, like orange/yellow-red, or green-blue. Or mix it up with red-blue or yellow-blue.




Step 4


After 5 minutes remove the eggs from the dye. Dry them of, especially the ones covered with yarn. Let them dry a little before removing the yarn. 
When they are dry, repeat Step 3. By adding more yarn or more crayon you keep the colours you put on before. If you are already happy with the effect of two colours, another dye bath is not necessary. 



Step 5


Congratulations you made your own Pysanky inspired, Batik based, Tie-dye Easter Eggs! If you work like me your hands will be now of a festive colour as well. Don't worry the dye comes of with a good scrub. Enjoy this long weekend! And if you do not have a long weekend, still enjoy these eggs! Would love to see your results! Bye!