Monday, 20 July 2026

Batik Inspired Fabric Using Wax, Ink and Dyes

Batik Inspired Fabric

I have been experimenting with a simple batik-inspired wax-resist technique to create patterned fabric for my mixed-media and textile projects.

What you will need:

Tealight and candle wax or bees wax
Recycled fabric - tea towel, old bedsheet
Inks and dyes, shimmer misters
paint brush (keep one just for this activity)

I began with pieces of cotton fabric and applied melted candle wax and beeswax in loose, random patterns across the fabric.

I then added a mixture of shimmer sprays, leftover inks and orange fabric dye. Some of the bottles were almost empty, so this was also a great opportunity to use older supplies rather than allowing them to sit forgotten in the studio.

After adding the color, I placed the fabric inside a plastic bag and gently scrunched it together. This helped the colors blend and move into some of the uncolored spaces.

As the fabric dried, the colors softened and the wax-resist patterns became more visible. I especially loved the areas where the wax had cracked and allowed fine lines of color to bleed through.

Those unexpected marks inspire the next stage of the project and I see where intuitively I want to go. This is one of the things I enjoy most about experimenting with fabric. The first technique does not have to produce a finished piece. It can become the starting point for collage, stitching, art journaling, a wall hanging or another mixed-media project.

In the full Patreon post, I share more about the process, the materials I used and three creative activities you can try with your own wax-resist fabric, including creating a sampler, using up leftover color supplies and responding to the patterns with hand stitching.

Visit my Patreon page to read the complete post - HERE, see the finished fabric and explore the creative takeaways.

You may also spot a special appearance from Cole, my helpful studio assistant!

Before You Go

As artists, most of us have been collecting supplies for many years, this is a great time to look at what you currently have before you consider going out to purchase something new. I had some printer ink left over that I had brought at lease 20 years ago and it just sat there gathering dust as I didn't have the printer anymore. I experimented and found it stains fabric, and you can get some interesting effects. So take a look and you might surprise yourself.

You can find additional videos I created showing different wax resist experiments below and access my Full Material Musings playlist HERE

Behind the Scenes

If you want to check out behind the scenes and early release content then join us on my Patreon. You will find over 1000 videos and digital art resources for you to use in your creative projects. You can access my Patreon HERE

Download this months Sampler Edition Digital Art Papers for Free - You currently have 11 days left to access these papers for free!

If you want to take your learning further you can start in the Artist Resource Hub on my Course platform, this is also Free and there are many other courses that you can take a look at when you are ready.