TJAPPING THE BATIKS

An early start to our day to get in the van and go to a family factory to see the process of putting the designs on the batik fabric.  Ricky, a family member picked us up for the 40 minute drive through the city and into the village where his family owns, lives and works in the factory.

We began by going into a very small showroom where wife of Vicky, Ing, showed us some of the fabrics that are completed and for sale.  We certainly filled a couple of bags with yardage that would be wonderful for garments.  There was some silk, voile, cotton, rayon, and a thicker rayon they called lux rayon - heavier weight rayon.  I purchase some rayon to drop off to Maria to have her make a top and a dress for me.

The next room we visited was the workspace of Vicky who is a graphic designer/artist and using corel draw, he plans the design for the tjaps (pronounced chops).  Next stop to see Din, an employee who was using the delicate copper to shape the intricate designs and make the tjaps. Wow - so talented and now to choose the designs for our 5 meter piece of fabric. 

There were hundreds to choose from and I ended up choosing one I thought was bamboo and dragonflies.  Amid some laughter I found out I was actually choosing rope and knots.  Maybe this is the reason I am not an artist.  I still liked it - so I had 5 yards of rope and knots and then 5 yards of just knots.  I hope I can get something made when I get home.  Or perhaps make something myself.

Tjaps chosen we were then introduced to Herry who would help us tjap the design onto our fabric. Working over a large, shallow flat pan over a propane, he dipped the tjaps in the hot wax and and the placed - not pressed - it on our fabric - then it was our turn to try our hand at tjapping.  He helped us put the tjap in the right place and then we placed it on the fabric so we could say we did some of it ourselves.

Buttons as far as you can see and 4 rows of this!

Close up of buttons

One was notions and one was craft supplies...rather junky we didn't stay long, but the third stop was the favourite - a button store.  I have never seen such a variety of buttons.  They had wooden, shell and bone buttons.  They had lots of plastic ones - but the wooden and shell ones were coveted by all of us!  It was a great store to poke around in.

A few of us went up to Maria's to have some clothing made for us.  I asked for a dress and a top and a pair of capri pants - all made from rayon that I purchased today and I can't wait to see how they turn out. The items will be ready before we leave for home - she is one very busy and talented seamstress.

We stopped for dinner at Paon, a restaurant right across from the resort. There are more choices than Indonesian here and Italian seems to be popular.  One night we will go to Massimos - up the street - he is and Italian trained chef from Italy and Lonely Planet says this restaurant is not to be missed