We’ve received our new shipment of Batik Paraffin Crackle Cotton Fabric!
What exactly is Paraffin Crackle fabric and why is it more expensive than regular Batik fabric?
This stunning cotton fabric is the end result of a painting method involving the use of paraffin wax to create a design on fabric. It’s a labor intensive process which requires the artist to hand paint the wax onto yards of fabric, allowing it to dry, and then little by little crack the wax into the desired pattern. Once done, the artist hand dyes the fabric, ensuring the dye gets into the cracks to create the crackle motif. After the dye has dried, the artist boils the fabric to remove the residual wax. If the finished fabric is to have more than one color, the entire process is repeated for every color desired!
The same artists who create the Batik Paintings also produce the paraffin crackle fabrics. In this way, the artist can produce a cotton material that complements the many Batik Paintings that have crackle backgrounds and borders. Think of yards of crackle fabric as one very long painting.
Many quilters use the complementary crackle fabric to create trims, backings, and borders around their Batik quilts, wall hangings and even wearable art pieces. Actually, sewers us parrifin crackle fabric the same way any cotton fabric is used.
The examples below show how a crackle fabric complements Batik paintings to extend a pattern or enhance a design.
