Batik Fabric Is Hard To Do Hand Quilting as they are a tighter weave and also have a harder feel, but they are beautiful and you can make pretty quilts with them.
Batik fabrics are cotton 100% and come in pretty colors and designs, these make them pretty enough to work with them to make your quilts, but at the time of thinking to work on the hand quilting, it will be better to learn if it’s easy to work with or not, before you make a regular size quilt.
Is Batik Fabric Hard To Do Hand Quilting?
Why Batik Fabric Is Hard To Do Hand Quilting On?
Batiks fabrics are made with cotton tighter weave, which makes of them thicker to work on them with hand quilting.
How Batik Fabrics Are Made?
Batiks are made in Indonesia and they use the traditional fabric printing method of using carved wooden blocks to stamp wax on the cotton fabric, which will be dipped in one or different color dyes.
After the process of dipping the fabric in the color dye, the fabric will be washed in hot water to remove the wax from the stamping.
Then the fabric will be sun dried to help the dye to stay in the fabric.
Do I Need To Pre-Wash Batik Fabrics?
Because of the way Batiks fabrics are made, some will bleed more than others, and the best tip you can get here, is to wash your batik fabrics until you get no more bleeding from them.
Washing a few times each piece will help to soften the fibers and this will help you to work better with them, when piecing a new top or when working on the quilting.
Is Batik Fabric Good For Making Quilts?
As Batik fabrics are made cotton 100%, this makes them good to be used to make your quilts.
When we talk about the bright dye colors and the designs that batiks are made off, these make of this fabric a perfect choice to make your new quilt with them.
How To Know What Is Front and The Back Side On A Batik Fabric?
Batiks fabrics have a bright color on both sides, front and back, sometimes it will be hard to know which side is which, and when you’re making a quilt, it will be even harder to know when you cut small pieces of it to work on the piecing for a new top.
If you take a look to the fabric, you will know a small difference on the back, the color is not as brilliant as it’s on the front. You might also notice some small color dots on the back, these two tips will help you to know which side is which when working with small pieces.
Pressing Batik Fabrics Will Make Softer?
After you wash your batik fabrics, you need to press them as this step will help you to lay the fabric flat on the working table or on the cutting mat, you might notice these fabrics require higher temperatures on the iron to press well, you can also steam the fabric as you press.
You might notice after pressing, the fabric will feel softer and easier to cut and work with it.
How To Work With Batik Fabrics When Making Your Quilts?
Some quilters will decide to work on their new quilts with cotton fabrics made for quilting, which are made with the right count of threads and prints that makes them perfect to work with when making the piecing and the hand quilting.
However, some quilters will find sooner or later batiks fabrics and their design and bright colors will invite you to work with them to make a new quilt, them you will notice these fabrics are different to work with than cotton fabrics made for quilting.
So here you can find some tips to work with Batiks on your new quilt.
Make your quilt with a small percent of Batiks fabrics – It will add the color, and brightness but it will be good to work on it at the time of working on the hand quilting.
Use Batiks Fabrics as focal points – Use these fabrics to add a focal point on your quilts, this means, use a piece on strategic places, like the center of a start or the center of a Log Cabin or Dresden Plate block.
Applique – When working on an applique block, use the Batik fabrics for a center of a flower or one or two leaves.
How To Work On The Hand Quilting When Using Batik Fabrics?
Now that you know why Batik fabrics are hard to do the hand quilting, when you’re working on a quilt that is made with these fabrics, there are a few things to keep in mind.
Use A Thimble – Many quilters will be used already to use a thimble to push the needle when working on the hand quilting, some quilters find it hard to use, but when working on a quilt that has some Batik fabrics on it, you need to keep in mind that it will be better to use a thimble, and take your time to work on these pieces with care.
Use a thin but strong thread – As Batik fabrics are a tighter weave, working with a thick thread will be harder, find a good quality thread for hand quilting thinner them the one you use regularly, this will help you to work with ease on your quilt.
Use a sharp point needle – Quilters know well hand quilting needles are short and sharp pointed, but when you’re working on a quilt with Batik fabrics, finding the right needle to work on the hand quilting, will help you to do the quilting with ease on these fabrics.
Stitch On The ditch – Another way to do the hand quilting is to work on the stitch on the ditch, when the seam is not.
Can I Use Batik Fabric For The Back Of My Quit?
Batiks fabrics will be a great choice for the back fabric on your new quilt, but you need to keep a few things in your mind before you buy it.
Size of your quilt – As this type of fabric is woven tighter than a regular fabric for making quilts, when thinking about using it as the back fabric on your quilt, when you finish the quilt it might be heavier, and it might take longer to work on the hand quilting.
Best to buy a small piece of fabric first to make a test, if you think it will go good on your quilt and you can work on the hand quilting with no problem them you can buy the whole piece you need for the backing.
How Wide Is The Fabric – You won’t have much problem to find the right fabric to use on your new quilt as the backing, as these fabrics are easily found in the width you need, no need to stitching on two or more pieces to make the back for your new quilt.
Prewash and Press – As you know, some batik fabrics will bleed more than others, when thinking about using one of these fabrics for the back of your new quilt, take your time to prewash and press the fabric until it stops bleeding.
When using red or dark color batik fabrics for the backing of your new quilt, these steps are a must.
Where To Buy Batik Fabrics To Make Your New Quilt?
You can find pretty Batik fabrics to make your new quilt in the specialty stores shelves and you can also purchase it online on Amazon (affiliate)
Closing
When thinking if Batik Fabric is Hard To Do Hand Quilting, the answer is it might be harder than a regular cotton fabric made for making quilts.
However, this should not be the reason to stop using these beautiful fabrics to work with them, we hope you find helpful the tips we shared above and you get encouraged to use these beautiful fabrics on your next projects.
We are sure your new quilting projects, big and small will look pretty by adding some batik fabrics on them!
Happy Quilting!
Batik Fabrics Will Be Great To Make These Projects!
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Hi Alex. This is a great article about Batik fabric and how to hand quilt it. Lots of information and very easy to follow instructions. This is exactly what someone searching the topic will be looking for. I never really heard of Batik fabric but thanks you your wonderful post, not only do I know what it is, but I now also know where it comes from and how to work with it. Thank you very much for posting such a helpful article.