carmanmarie

I have used Batiks in my quilts and love the fabric. I have a friend that wants me to make a dress with a very pretty Batik. Is this fabric suitable for clothing? The pattern is McCalls M6555 I don't have a photo of the pattern to show.
Thanks for any help you can give me.

ArtsyOne

I'm a garment sewer as well as a quilter and in general any pattern that calls for a "woven" fabric would be fine with a batik, but with the McCalls M6555 I think I would use a lighter weight of fabric. Using a batik for this would make the dress stick out stiffly from the bust area on down. If the fabric you have is actually a batik-type print rather than a genuine waxed batik I think you would be okay.

Lori S

Batik unless a rayon batik does not drape well. Have you checked out any rayon batiks.?!!.. they are wonderfully cool to wear, and drape and flow so beautifully. They retain color pretty well and unlike the early rayons they iron wonderfully. They do shrink so make sure to preshrink.

carmanmarie

This is a genuine wax Batik, I thought it might not be the fabric for this pattern. She wants me to give it a try anyway. I think I will buy some Downey and maybe it will soften up. Didn't know there was a Rayon Batik I will look for some For a dress for me.
Thank you both for your help.

MartiMorga

I know the little dress I bought in Hawaii many moons ago, was a Rayon Batik and I loved it. After wearing for many summers on the hottest days, I understood why I saw so many ladies wearing them in Hawaii. Wish I was a better sewer, because I would make many more.

soccertxi

I just made a jacket out of batik. I was supposed to be 'flow-y'. Well, made in the batik: it is not. Its not stiff as a board and I will wear it, but wish I had searched out some rayon batik. I love this pattern, but not again in regular batik.

MaryMo

I've used cotton batiks for elastic "pajama" pants and for caftan-styled dresses .... they sewed up easily and wore great. That McCall's pattern (6555) should be ok for many batiks. I suggest saving the Downy for use after dress is made, but that's my opinion. Good luck!

DogHouseMom

Aside from everything else folks have posted (lousy drape, stiff, etc) I shudder at the thought of ironing the darn thing every time I had to wear it. Ugh!

Chasing Hawk

Oh, I gotta have this pattern! I made a blouse using batik fabric a couple of years ago. I soaked it in fabric softener for a few hours then put it in the dryer with Mr. Steamy. Mr. Steamy beat it to a pulp...lol

bobbiesboutique

It is a very nice pattern and would look nice with batik I dont know much about rules for making clothing it may be a little stiff and not to flowing alot of batiks I have are a little stiff I will be following I would like to know how it turns out post pictures please if you decide to make it.