Cheap Batik Art Project!

Hi! It has been forever since I have posted anything. 3 years ago I went back to work full time teaching Art and Gifted at a Middle School. Which means I have less time to manage more things, so I don't get to sew as much as I did and I definitely didn't have much time to squeeze in a blog post. But after this project, I had a few people ask me to write out detailed instructions, so here it is!

Here are some final projects.

My 7th grade classes were doing a Unit on African Art, and we studied a variety of techniques to make/dye cloth. I wanted to do a resist project, but I have a budget of $0 and 100 kids. I was able to find a few yards of cotton Muslin in my closet, and figured if I break them into teams, It just might work. I had Elmer's Glue in my closet, and some donated. fabric paint. 

Supplies Needed:
White or Off White Cotton Fabric
Fabric Paint
Brushes
Shaving Cream
Access to a Washing Machine

The first step was drawing their plans in their sketchbooks. Because this was a group project, they had to agree. I let them pick their own groups to help foster that. Then, they free hand the Washable Elmer's Glue onto then fabric. DO NOT HAVE NEWSPAPER UNDER FABRIC, it will stick as the glue seeps into the fabric. If you have plastic table covers, use them to lay them to dry. It took the glue about 24 hours to dry completely.

After the glue is dried, mix the fabric paint into a cup of shave cream. Just like paper marbling.

add a good bit of fabric paint, and mix well. Then they paint the colors onto their cloth.

We let the paint dry for a weekend. I washed the projects that Monday, and for some I had to wash twice to get all the glue off. They came out wonderfully though!

The students loved this project. It is easy enough for younger students to, but interesting enough for older students.