Day 59: Hand Stamping Fabric in Indonesia. Around the World in 80 Days.

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Day 59: Hand Stamping Fabric in Indonesia

Destination: Indonesia

Indonesia is a country of islands in Southeast Asia. In fact, it has more than 17,000 islands. People live on about 6,000 of these islands. The most well-known islands are Java, Bali, Borneo, Sulawesi and Sumatra and the western part of New Guinea. The Indonesian archipelago is spread over the Pacific "Ring of Fire". The country has over 400 active volcanoes and records at least three earthquakes a day. The capital is Jakarta on the island of Java.

The climate of Indonesia is equatorial almost everywhere, which means it's hot, humid and rainy. Because Indonesia is located near the Equator, daylight lasts 12 hours throughout the year.

Fun Facts:

One of the most important real estate deals in history happened on September 8, 1664 when the Dutch traded the rights of the swampy island of New Amsterdam (now the island of Manhattan) for the tiny British-controlled Indonesian island of Run which was coveted for its special spice - nutmeg.

Also: Java has become a slang term for coffee, after the coffee beans grown on the island of Java. Coffee bushes and the habit of coffee drinking were introduced by the Dutch East India Company to Indonesia in 1696.

Art Form: Wax-resist Dyeing or Batik

Batik fabrics in Indonesia are hand dyed using traditional methods of wax-resist dyeing. Wax is applied to the fabric to resist the color dyes in selected areas.

A copper stamp called a cap or chop

is often used to apply the wax. The stamp is dipped into hot wax and then stamped onto the fabric. Once the wax pattern is completed for the whole cloth, the fabric is immersed in one dye color at a time. The wax is removed by soaking the fabric in boiling water. This procedure is repeated multiple times for each color and pattern. No two prints are exactly alike.

When visiting Indonesia a traveler will see stacks of sarongs in market stalls as well as shirts and sundresses. The lightweight rayon fabrics are the perfect antidote to the hot, humid weather always present on Indonesian islands as well as here in Kansas City during the summertime.

This short video gives a wonderful introduction with written descriptions to the process of wax-resist dyeing or batik. Enjoy!

What is Indonesian Batik Fabric?

The Company: Hand Kreation

Since the founding of Hand Kreations in 1994, Huey and Katharina Lam have strived to make a positive impact in many lives by working with small family based manufacturers in rural communities in Indonesia.

They have provided hundreds of jobs in remote rural villages where there are limited economic opportunities for the villagers. By assisting them in designing, training, marketing and purchasing their products, they have helped to develop and sustain economically-sufficient communities.

These skilled artisans take pride in their culture and their work in creating their vibrant, hand-dyed fabrics. The blending of old and new, functional and beautiful, and east meets west is a gratifying and heartwarming merging of cultures.

(Offerings at the front door of a family home)

Shopping . . .

Are you ready to explore

what we have in our store?

Having trouble deciding what to give to that special man or fathering figure in your life for Father's Day?

These gorgeous men's shirts arrived just in time!!

Click on the picture above to make your choice.

And the women's ponchos and tiered skirts are perfect for summer! Click on the picture above to see all the beautiful prints.

www.worldswindowkc.store

Don't forget to stamp your Passport!

Click on the "stamp" to add to your "passport."

We keep track of your stamps for you!

"Collect" at least 12 different "country" stamps during the third 20 days of our around-the-world trip to be entered into the drawing for a $25 gift card.

Since we're on Day 59, you only have 1 more day to complete your 12 stamps between days 40 and 60.

At the end of our 80-day Around the World excursion, all eligible travelers (minimum of 48 country stamps) will be entered into a drawing for . . .

a Grand Prize $100 shopping spree gift card!

Thanks for traveling with us today.

Where to next? Stay tuned!

When our family traveled to Bali, Indonesia in 1997, we were, of course, immersed in hunting for unusual folk art, crafts and jewelry as well as batik sarongs and ikat weavings. Beyond the official buying part of our trip, we were enchanted

and so much has stayed with us as beautiful memories: the friendliness of everyone we met, the elaborately carved and decorated temples, the terraced rice patties, the gently swaying tall woven bamboo decorations along the roads, the distinct family "compounds" tucked behind walls, and the intricately woven and displayed daily food and flower "offerings" placed on the ground in front of houses and businesses each day. And almost every day a procession of some kind filled the streets - a wedding, a holiday celebration, or the weekly ceremonial visit to the temple to have their household's food blessed. The arrival of our Indonesian batik fashions each year recalls those special memories.

Our online store is, of course, open 24 hours a day. Our Brookside store is open today (Thursday) through Sunday. Our current hours are posted below my signature and we look forward to seeing you!

For those of you who cannot or choose not to shop in our Brookside store right now, we thank you for your continued online shopping support.

And I can't say it enough times - YOU are an important part of what makes World's Window so special! THANK YOU!

World's Window

"Nobody can define you like you."

P.S. We are glad to be on this around-the-world virtual journey with you and delighted that you are traveling with us. We hope you are learning some new information as we travel along. If you haven't already done so, invite some friends to come along! There's still room on this journey! Send an invite

P.P.S. We're keeping our trip "log" up to date. If you think you've missed a day or are new to our journey, click here to review where we've visited the last 58 days.

For our Brookside Store:

CLOSED Monday and Tuesday

OPEN Wed through Sat, 11 am to 5 pm

Sunday, 12 noon to 5 pm

SHOP our on-line store:

www.worldswindowkc.store

As always we are "sharing the world" through clothing, jewelry, folk art, textiles and hand-selected gifts -

and

buying locally-owned is a gift to your community!