 Hi and welcome to Design at Home. I'm Tiffany, an educator at Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. Today we're going to be talking about different Indonesian textile techniques inspired by pieces from our collection and pieces from our current exhibition Contemporary Muslim Fashions. After that we'll practice one of the techniques using common materials that can be found at home. There are many different ways that people across cultures and throughout history have died in decorated fabrics as a demarcation of occasion, of culture, of status or even just as expressions of beauty. Indonesia has a rich history of innovations and textile techniques that continue to inspire fashion designers across the world today. Let's take a look at three of the most influential styles of Indonesian textiles. Batik, Sanket and Ikat. First let's take a look at Sanket, a brocade technique of traditionally hand woven silk from Sumatra, Indonesia. It patterns are made on a loom, leaving colored silk or cotton threads with metallic gold or silver threads. Historically this exquisite work was commissioned by royalty and high ranking families in Indonesia. Today these Sanket silks are still considered to be a prized luxury and are often used for celebrations or special occasions such as a wedding. Next let's explore the complex dyeing and weaving technique of Ikat. For those of you who have ever tried tie dyeing some of these steps might look a little bit familiar except this is on a much more elaborate scale. The word ikat comes from a Malay word mingikak which means to tie and that's exactly how Indonesian textile artists traditionally have created the ornate and intricate patterns and motifs in ikat fabrics. Before weaving the bundled cotton threads are tied together with plastic strips in complex patterns. These plastic bindings prevent the dye from getting to those areas. Once the bundled threads have been tied, they are woven into the larger tapestry creating beautiful designs. Finally let's take a look at the batik dyeing technique. Batik is a traditional Indonesian pattern dyeing technique where designs are drawn on to fabrics like silk or cotton using a special wax resist. The wax is applied while hot using a special pen-like tool called a candy. When the wax cools and hardens it covers and protects that area of the fabric from being exposed to the dye. After the fabric has been dyed it's washed in boiling water to remove the wax resist and the result is a beautiful pattern left beneath where the wax once was. Batik textiles show a wide range of Indonesian cultural influences and motifs and are often worn for ceremonial occasions. These three Indonesian textile techniques have been handed down and perfected over hundreds of years and continue to inspire fashion and textile designers all over the world. To better understand the batik process we're going to make our own resist dye pattern using simple materials that can be found at home. Our design challenge is to create a batik inspired textile using a resist and dye on fabric to create a pattern. Here's what you'll need to get started. White school glue. This will be your resist or what keeps the dye off of the parts of your pattern. Something to apply your resist like a cotton swab or a toothpick. Natural fiber material like a cotton t-shirt a linen handkerchief or any other fabric scraps made from natural fibers. If you have your own fabric dye that you can get from the store then great. If not though no problem you can make your own natural dye using some leftover food from the fridge. Because I didn't have any dye at my home I decided to make my own natural dye. Different foods can make different colored dyes but I decided to use raspberries because they were what was left over in my refrigerator. Not only will they make a beautiful pink color but it's also a great way from using food that might not have gotten eaten otherwise. Other foods that you could use are beets or spinach or even onion skins. First I boiled my raspberries using two cups of water for every one cup of raspberries. I then added salt and let it simmer for an hour. Once the berries were pale and nearly colorless I streamed them out so that only the bright pink liquid remained. That's your dye! You can set this aside while you prepare your boutique fabric to be dyed. I put mine in the refrigerator to be reheated once I was ready to use it. Another thing to note if you're using a homemade natural dye and you don't want the color to fade or wash out of your fabric over time. You'll want to repair the fabric by soaking it in a fixative. A fixative is a solution that helps to make the colors stay. For cotton you can soak it in hot salt water. Next, lay your clean fabric on a flat surface with newspaper or plastic wrap between layers or underneath. If you have a complicated design you may want to sketch it out onto your fabric with a pencil. Using your application tool or squeezing directly from the bottle draw a design with white school glue over the surface of your fabric. You can make your design as complex or as simple as you'd like blocking out small or large shapes with the glue. Remember the parts that are covered with the glue are the parts that will remain white after you've dyed your fabric. Set the fabric aside and let your glue dry completely before moving on to the next step. Step 4. Whether you're using a fabric dye from the store or a natural dye that you made yourself, heat your dye up to nearly a boil. Once it's hot place your dye in a container with a large opening like a bowl or a bucket. Now you can start the dyeing process. Remember you'll want to be very careful with the hot water and maybe ask an adult for help with this part. Using tongs or something to protect your hand from the heat like a plastic waterproof glove fully submerge your fabric into the dye. To keep the glue intact you'll want to avoid moving your fabric around in the water too much. Leave your fabric in the dye for at least an hour or until you feel good about how saturated the color is. Once you're happy with the color pull your fabric out of the dye and rinse under warm clean water. And then under cool water you'll want to keep on rinsing your fabric until the water that runs out of it is clear. As you rinse rub off the glue that formed your pattern. This is what mine looked like in the end but remember there's no right or wrong way for yours to look. Some will have bright colors while others will be more pastel. Some will have more or less complicated designs and that's okay. At the end of the day you're the designer and you can make the decisions for how your designs look. If you'd like to take this a step further you can add variation and complexity to your design by repeating the steps and introducing a second color. We would love to see what you design. If you or an adult would like to share your designs with us on social media you can do so using the hashtag SmithsonianEDU. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you would like to experience more ways to design at home you can visit our website at cooperhewitt.org or you can check out our Smithsonian Learning Lab page. Till next time!