oooh, pretty

I got my order from Dharma Trading. I got 3 Tjaps (I believe it pronounced like chop). They are used for batik to apply wax to fabric to block the dye. You'll get undyed ares that way. Think of a rubber stamp, how it applies a pattern to paper. But this is the reverse. It keeps dye from the fabric.

I put a couple pictures up so you could see how they're put together. They are made from strips of copper and have a handle on the back. Dharma has more info on how they're made.

You let the Tjap sit in the container for a bit to heat up. Otherwise the wax just wants to stick to it and not move to the fabric. Or it cools off the wax too much so it won't soak into the fabric. The wax just sits on top and doesn't block the dye.

I'll have show you my attempts to use them later. It didn't occur to me that the pan I use to melt wax wasn't big enough to put these in. I use a 9" pie tin I got at the thrift store. But of course, that is how big it is at the outside edge. You can't put something that is 9" in it. The one on the left is 8" long, the largest one is 9.5" at its widest point. I figure a cheapo aluminum pan will work.
Here are a few videos about batik. The bottom one shows a person using a Tjap. Her site has a lot of good info on dyeing. Well written and easy to understand.

Dharma Trading has several videos showing how to use the various tools. I've been quite happy with Dharma Trading and the product I've gotten from them.