Batiks - Telling Front From Back
 

My sister says there is a definite back to a batik fabric. I have fairly good eyesight, but unless it has the original fold I find it difficult to tell. I have bought about 17 different ones recently and both sides look pretty much the same to me. Is it because they do a really good job printing them? Should I be concerned when I'm sewing them together?

I'm with you. I can't tell the difference and often choose batiks specifically because there is no right or wrong side.

I agree, most batiks don't really have a "wrong side!!"

the last ones I used, a couple of them had a right and wrong side, only showed in natural daylight though, one side looked brighter than the other so I stuck labels on all the pieces as I cut them!!!! normally though, I would agree that both sides are very much the same

I think it's possible there are some fabrics that are printed to look like batiks, and this may be what your sister is talking about.

If you look closely, you can sometimes see that the pattern will be a little more prominent on one side than the other. Also, that the shades may be a little more vibrant or muted from one side to the other.

Just in case there is a difference, what I do is put a safety pin on the wrong side ... or mark X with a chalk to help me keep track.

The way they are made the dye soaks all the way through the fabric and sets the same so it is much the same all the way through. When I lived in the Far East our wives club went on a tour of where they were dying batiks and the fabric was really soaked all the way through with the dye. They were doing it by hand. I am not sure how the machine dyed ones are made.

I do as QuiltE and mark with chalk which side I think is the wrong side. But I have many times just cut my pieces and let the individual pieces tell me which side to use.

Hard to tell on lots of them ~ and hey I paid for both sides!

I'm a total "batik head". Most often you can't tell the difference between sides except for some vibrancy changes or design prominence. I find that sometimes I will like the "wrong" side better than the "right" side! As stated in an earlier post, I paid for both sides so I use either.