Batik Sarong Terengganu Project - Part 3

I have been wanting to share with you what we learnt on our trip to Terengganu but I'm still waiting for the pics we took. It's been an awfully busy time for everybody but hopefully I'll get them soon.

For now, here are more gorgeous Terengganu batik chop/block for you to feast your eyes on. I am, of course, oversimplifying the process but to give you a quick idea just imagine each piece had to be stamped with wax bit by bit, part by part and then dyed, boiled, re-waxed, re-dyed and re-boiled over and over again depending on the number of colours they decide to use. Each piece. All by hand. 

Vintage Batik Bags

I've been crazy busy making bags for the Putrajaya International Islamic Arts & Culture Festival (PIIACF) which will be held from this Thursday to Sunday, 30th October - 2nd November.

Here are a few that I've made from these vintage batik.

Zipper and gusset for this bag.

A pleat and a pair of short straps for this one.

Three panels of fabric sewn together to make the front.

And one piece for the back.

Will show more soon :)

Panji-Panji

My good old school friend H and her husband have built a couple of lovely little chalets called Panji Panji just minutes away from Cenang Beach in Langkawi that are now open for guests. She asked me to make some mini zippered pouches as gifts so I made a whole bunch with all the batik pieces and fabric I have left from the bags. It feels so good to see them put to use. And they make such pretty combos too.

The lovely Panji Panji chalets.

I could live here!

If you want to know more about the beautiful wooden homes of Panji Panji, click here and start making some plans to get away from the hectic city life. We are so going there soon :)

Butterfly

Cat caught this gorgeous mint green butterfly a couple of days ago. I've never seen this species before. Such beautiful colours. The white ones are more commonly found in our garden. Luckily, I managed to take it away from Cat before he tore it to pieces. You can see the wings are already tattered. 

In the evening he brought in a small bird similar in colour to the large one he caught some time back but it was too dark to take a picture. Some day I'll post some pics of our orange hunter.

Straps

Every bag is made from scratch right down to the straps. I start with cutting two strips of batik and two strips of interior fabric for each bag. Then I iron them before I mark the width and length using a template made of backing board. After that it's time to sew.

I then turn each over using the handle of a long paint brush. And finally it's back to ironing each strap. It's a loong process. Sometimes I look proudly at my heap of straps only to realize they are enough for just four of five bags. Not so great when I have to make eighteen!