a batik lesson

Ever find yourself reviewing the rules before you leave the house? About two weeks ago I was (amost) nervously reviewing the rules of going on a homeschool group outing to Gracia Fabrics in East Legon. Listen to whoever is in charge. Bring your patient spirit (Mmhm. Leave the high and mighty one here at home, please. )
Wait for your turn. Raise your hand and, for goodness sakes, no shouting. No taking off at high speed to explore the compound. If someone greets you, how do we respond?

We enjoy the times we are able to catch up with a homeschool group in Accra.
I just feel slightly nervous bringing the youngest kids in the group. Nationals here are also not always  receptive to the idea of homeschooling never mind of group of us unsocialized expatriots playing tourist.
Except Ms. Grace was very kind. And welcoming. And very gracious about my smaller son leaning over the dye vats. And swinging from the drying rack.
She's been batik designing and dyeing for her whole adult life and in business for 22 years. The process is done with chemical dyes and color fixes but used to be done with natural bark and nut powders bought at market. So (sadly for some) this was not the organic batik spot, but it surely was great in so many ways.

The older kids chose large foam stamps to create their designs. The process of dipping the foam into the wax, shaking off the excess and repeating many times over was assisted by two helpers but the children were allowed to take off on their own if they could brave the spritzing wax.

We began with white fabric. The wax protects the base color. Then the first dye is applied. When set, the cloth is dipped in boiling water to remove the wax. The cloth could then be restamped and redyed, adding another layer of color. To shorten the process for our crowd, we did one stamping, one dyeing.
My three are the youngest in the group and so they worked on the ground with a tie-dye style batik. Their white cloth scrunched while damp and then let to dry. The man showing us the method went ahead with a first color of yellow and then the children could choose the second shade. We waited a short time between colors and then after both were added to allow the fabric to dry. They were a little disappointed they were more observers for this activity but I was thankful no one handed them the ladle of boiling hot chemical dye!
Apparently, my rule reviewing was a success. The only thing dyed was the fabric and no one destroyed anything. In fact, our relationships with our school friends were built upon and, hey, we got some pretty cool clothes as well.
We are thankful for the work that went in to planning the day. Thanks, Pam S.!

Waiting for our turn for color.

Watching the older kids design their fabric.

Elle wanted to help....:)



Max and Stephen watching Stephen's cloth being rinsed.

Adding the first color. He said it was yellow but he had a hard time convincing the children. Only when it fully dried did the yellow come out lighter and brighter.

Our co-workers Leon and Barb entertaining Leila. They've got a grandson in the States a few days older than her. Leila loves the 'Grandma' time and so does Barb. What a blessing.

Waiting for the color to dry.

The results!

Sandra the seamstress whipped up these handy little shorts. When the boys said they wanted shorts, I wasn't so sure! But I'm thinking these are pretty cool.

Cool, indeed. Those shorts turned these guys into, er, well, pirates?!