Describe something you made yourself

I want to talk about a batik scarf that I made by myself last year. Batik is a traditional Indonesian cloth, and the pattern is made with wax and dye. My scarf is dark blue with brown flowers, and it's about two metres long.

I made it in a workshop in Yogyakarta, when I visited there with my friends from university. First, we drew the pattern with a pencil on a white cotton. Then we used a canting, it's a small copper tool like a pen, to put hot wax on the lines. This part was very difficult, because the wax drops very easily. After that, the cloth was put in blue dye, and then we added more wax and dyed again with brown colour. At the end, they boiled the cloth to take off the wax.

The whole process took two days. The first day was only for drawing and waxing, and the second day was for the dyeing and the boiling.

When I saw the result, honestly I was a bit disappointing, because my lines were not straight and there were some wax spots. But after a while I felt proud, because I made it with my own hands. Now I understand why real batik is so expensive. I gave it to my mother, and she wears it every time when she goes to the wedding.

I'd like to talk about a batik scarf I made at a workshop last year. Batik, if you're not familiar with it, is a traditional Indonesian technique where you draw a pattern in wax on cloth and then dye it, so that the waxed parts stay pale. Mine ended up indigo with brown flowers, about two metres long.

I made it during a trip to Yogyakarta with some friends from university. First, we sketched the design in pencil on plain white cotton. Then we traced over the lines using a canting, which is a tiny copper pen filled with melted wax, and that was by far the hardest part, because the wax drips the moment you hesitate. Once the wax had set, the cloth was dipped in indigo, waxed again in places and dyed a second time in brown. Finally, it was boiled so that all the wax melted away and the pattern appeared.

The whole thing took two full days. The first day was entirely drawing and waxing, which was painfully slow, and the second was dyeing, drying and boiling.

Honestly, my first reaction to the result was slight disappointment. Next to our teacher's, my lines looked wobbly and there were a couple of drips that had left pale spots. But the more I looked at it, the more I liked those flaws, because they proved it was genuinely handmade. It also gave me huge respect to the craftspeople who do this for a living. In the end I gave it to my mum, who wears it to every wedding she goes to.

Something I'm unexpectedly proud of is a batik scarf I made last year. For anyone who hasn't come across it, batik is an Indonesian technique in which you draw your design in hot wax and then dye the cloth, so the waxed lines resist the colour. Mine is a deep indigo with a scattering of brown flowers, and it's roughly two metres long.

I made it at a small workshop in Yogyakarta, on a trip with friends from university. We began by sketching the pattern lightly in pencil on plain white cotton. The next stage was the one that nearly broke me: tracing every line with a canting, a little copper pen with a reservoir of molten wax, which drips the instant your hand wavers. Once the wax had hardened, the cloth was plunged into indigo, partly rewaxed to protect the blue, and dyed again in brown. Finally it was boiled, the wax floated away, and the pattern emerged, which felt like developing a photograph.

From start to finish it took two solid days: the first spent hunched over the frame drawing and waxing, the second devoted to dyeing, drying and boiling.

My feelings about the result were genuinely mixed. Laid beside our teacher's work, mine looked wobbly and amateurish, and a couple of rogue drips had left pale blotches right in the middle. But over the following weeks the flaws grew on me; they're the proof that a person made it, not a machine. It also left me with a new-found respect for the artisans who do this all day for very modest pay. My mother has since adopted it and wears it to every wedding, so in a sense it's been an unqualified success.