My third collection of batiks (Malam III) is now being shipped to shops and I am already working on the next collection which will be available in about a year.
People often ask where I get the designs for the batiks. I feel lucky in that I have a vast archive of patterns I have created since 1981 when I first began designing fabric. Many of those designs can be adapted to batik prints and you would have a hard time realizing that the batik version began with the same concept as the other.

Creating batiks is a completely different process than screen printing which is mostly what is used today. Where some of the screen printed fabrics have repeats up to 24 inches, the batiks can only have a repeat of about 8 inches. There is a very good reason for this. The “cap” (pronounced “chop” and Americanized as “chop”) is an approximately 8 to 10 inch metal square with the design embedded into it with thin copper sheets.




Depending upon the intricacies of the design, this can be quite heavy. In the printing process, the chop is dipped into hot wax and then stamped upon the fabric…..all done by hand. The wax preserves the color that is underneath.

If the design is too large, the chop would become too heavy making it difficult for the person doing the stamping.
When selecting designs to use as a batik pattern I look through designs I have previously done and select ones or parts of ones that would create a nice line design, have a small repeat and create an interesting affect. Here are some photos of the original designs and the batik counterparts.


If you are interested in more information about the batik printing process visit my blog about my trip to Indonesia in 2013 to see my batiks being made.
Thanks for sharing this marvellous insight into your amazing designs. I just received my Malam III order today and the fabrics are even more amazing in real life. Thank you!