Batik pros and cons
08-08-2010, 03:45 PM
#83
Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Homer, Alaska
Posts: 72
Batiks are great. I use them in a picture quilt where they are used in trees and mountains and water... I used it for backing just once and my machine quilting looked great on the front side but the back looked real funny (like it had big holes where the stitches went in and like the thread layed on the back) But it was pretty but I won't use it for backing again. I know it is because the cotton fabric is mercantized (which means it is spun several times to make it receptive to dyes so that why it sometimes feels like silk and almost shiny....)I have used this type of fabric when dying my own.. the color comes out very rich and pure.. but it is some times a bear to sew....
08-08-2010, 08:46 PM
#84
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Cheshire, Massachusetts
Posts: 838
My son is getting married in September, and my best friend, so incredibly loving and generous, has offered to give them a gorgeous queen sized quilt she made from batiks. Unfortunately, she has told me she never bothers to prewash her fabrics. Looks like I will be presenting the happy couple with some Retayne or color catcher sheets and the advice to use them once it needs laundering. My question is: previous posts have advised 1 tsp Retayne per yard of fabric for pretreating. How much would be used for a queen sized quilt made with a thin all cotton batting?
08-09-2010, 05:04 AM
#86
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Illinois
Posts: 9,312
Originally Posted by Cheshirecatquilter
My son is getting married in September, and my best friend, so incredibly loving and generous, has offered to give them a gorgeous queen sized quilt she made from batiks. Unfortunately, she has told me she never bothers to prewash her fabrics. Looks like I will be presenting the happy couple with some Retayne or color catcher sheets and the advice to use them once it needs laundering. My question is: previous posts have advised 1 tsp Retayne per yard of fabric for pretreating. How much would be used for a queen sized quilt made with a thin all cotton batting?
Sythropol will keep any dye that is shed in the wash from bonding to the fabrics.
08-09-2010, 07:28 AM
#88
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: La Verne, CA
Posts: 794
Originally Posted by Cheshirecatquilter
Thank you so much for your advice. I'm leaving on vacation now for a few days, so thanks also in advance to anyone else who has suggestions. I will find and read them when I return.
08-10-2010, 10:35 AM
#89
Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Plano,TX
Posts: 232
The only "con" I know, is be careful where you buy your batiks.
Hoffman and Hoffman make very good batiks and have fair labor laws and do not promote child labor or endangerment. Believe it or not, if you buy cheap batiks you are supporting children and /or women that sometimes are even caged for their labor. Our department of labor is working on this, in the 15 or so countries that make batiks. But as they told me, in response to a letter I wrote to the Secretary of Labor...the power only lies in the people who buy the product in the end. As for me, I only buy from the companies that I know. Just a thought.
Hoffman and Hoffman make very good batiks and have fair labor laws and do not promote child labor or endangerment. Believe it or not, if you buy cheap batiks you are supporting children and /or women that sometimes are even caged for their labor. Our department of labor is working on this, in the 15 or so countries that make batiks. But as they told me, in response to a letter I wrote to the Secretary of Labor...the power only lies in the people who buy the product in the end. As for me, I only buy from the companies that I know. Just a thought.
08-10-2010, 02:15 PM
#90
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: FL
Posts: 7,084
Originally Posted by cimarron
I got an email of the MOST batiks I've ever seen from "Seawatch." One thing I do NOT need is more fabric...but since everyone here is discussing batiks seemed like I should tell you what I got in 'the mail.' I've know nothing whatsoever about the company, never ordered from them in my life. I don't even know how they knew my email address...but they certainly have a load of batiks, all I know.
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