Learn How to Make Batik in Yogyakarta!

Originally published on January 7, 2024 | Last updated on March 21, 2025

When we went to Yogyakarta as part of our Christmas break, I figured out we stayed pretty much next door to a batik home workshop that’s been there for 140 years! So of course I had to go and learn more about batik.

What is Batik?

For those who don’t know, batik is an art/technique of dye-ing fabric from Indonesia. Well, some other countries may not agree with that but UNESCO has recognised it in 2009. Here’s some further info for those who want to find out more! Batik is made by covering some areas of the fabric with wax, so that when the fabric is dipped in dye, those areas are not dyed, and then the dye is removed with boiling water. Indonesians have over time perfected these art, it’s truly a beautiful fabric!

Where do I go to Make Batik?

The batik workshop is called Batik Winotosastro, which is located on Tirtodipuran St No.54, Mantrijeron, Yogyakarta City, Special Region of Yogyakarta 55143, Indonesia.

As far as my google skills go, I can’t find their website, which is such a shame! They do have an instagram page but it wasn’t very responsive, so I decided to just try my luck and walked in in the morning post breakfast. One lady greeted me and I mentioned that I wanted to do a batik workshop. To my luck, I could do it straightaway! So, no booking required, just walk in is sufficient it seems.

Process of Learning Batik

Choosing Colours, Fabric and Method

We choose the size of the fabric and the amount of colours (if you do more than 1 colour, it’s more expensive), and whether we want to do “batik tulis” or “batik cap” – these refers to different ways of making batik. Batik tulis is fully hand drawn, while batik cap use stamps to speed up the batik process. I chose to do batik tulis as these are the more difficult but more traditional (while I can!) and hence to choose the smallest fabric as batik tulis is much more time consuming. You can also combine the techniques. I ended up using both techniques in my batik!

The lady couldn’t speak English so I translated for my British husband. Advantage of being an Indonesian speaker I guess! Though I saw another group with their own French speaking guides, so you don’t have to be fluent Indonesian speaker to visit. Just make sure someone can actually speak Indonesian. If you are worried, you can also use a specific English speaking tours on batik making workshop. There are options!

Making the shapes is not difficult, but I found it more difficult to ensure that I have enough wax to cover the area and to make sure that the line is not thick on one end and thin on one end! This is by controlling the angle of “canting” – the tool you see on my hand to put the wax on the fabric.

Dyeing the Fabric

When we were done, another lady helped us to dye the fabric. She’s been working there for 34 years!

Traditionally, the steps are:

• Dye with the lightest colour
• Let it dry.
• Once it dries, put the cloth in boiling water to remove the wax.
• Hang dry
• Cover the next darker part with wax
• Then you’ll repeat the process of dyeing, boiling and covering with wax until everything is covered with the colour you want.

Can you tell why traditional batik is an art, and can be quite expensive?

We only pick one colour to simplify the process. Once it dries, they hemmed the edges and iron it for us to bring home. Yay!

It took about perhaps around 1-2 hours from the moment we stepped in to the moment we stepped out (including some shopping) but I loved the entire experience. Nowadays there are so much fabric you can see everywhere but they are made by stamps in the factory which kind of lose the art of batik tulis. I was very happy to find a handmade workshop, being able to learn, and support local business. Highly recommended next time you come to Yogyakarta!

After learning how to make batik, make sure you spend time to visit other places and learn about the history of Indonesia in Yogyakarta!