How to Make a Batik Print Reddit 404 Pillow Cover

Reddit is our sweetheart, our source of great knowledge and we have learnt so much from it. I love Reddit alien so much. I wanted to make it Desi style over a pillow cover. So I have chosen Batik printing technique to make the pillow cover. I have tried to cover all steps with pictures, kindly feel free to ask questions if you think I missed something.

Step 1: Collect the Required Stuff

To make this pillow you will need following things:

1. A Reddit 404 image, printed on an A4 sheet

2. A thick cotton cloth in 14x14 inch size. A matching thin cloth for lining of the same size. 2 pieces of 14x17 inches size for making envelope style closing. ( I used an Organic muslin fabric with very high thread count)

3. A carbon sheet and a pencil to transfer the image on to the cloth

4. Bees wax, a bowl to melt the wax and a paint brush to apply wax on the cloth

5. Color of your choice. You can use more than one color. I used only one color - Blue.

6. Heater to melt the wax and lot of open space for ventilation (this is very important to avoid from chocking)

7. Ironing board and iron

8. Sewing machine and a matching thread.

Step 2: Transferring the Image on to the Cloth

If you have already done lots of craft projects, you might have become a master already. But in case you are new and don't know how to transfer the image on the fabric, I will tell how I do it.

Place the everything in sequence over your work table - place the clothe on which you have to transfer the picture and then place the carbon sheet nicely so that it colors the area of the cloth that has to be printed. At this point, you should be careful about the alignment of the image, the transferred image should come in center (unless you want to print an asymmetric pillow). Now on top of cloth and carbon sheet, place the image (the A4 sheet that you want to transfer). Now you can start tracing the image with help of the pencil. After tracing, remove the carbon and A4 sheet. After image transfer, the cloth should look as it looks here in the picture.

The cloth that I have used is looking crushed. For a cleaner output, please make sure that your cloth is nicely ironed and wrinkle free.

Step 3: Painting the Cloth With Wax

To paint the cloth, you will need to melt the bees wax in a bowl. You can use the heater made specially to melt the wax or you can use 'double boiler' method as I did. At this point you need lot of ventilation as melted wax releases toxic fumes.

Take the painting brush and start painting the image. A fully painted image should look something like as shown in the picture.

Step 4: Applying Color to the Cloth

Take sufficient color in the brush ans start painting carefully. You should cover the whole image in color. Don't worry about the excess color as it will be removed while ironing and washing.

After you have applied color and properly covered the cloth and the pattern with color, allow it to dry for 2-3 days.

Step 5: Reverse Ironing and Outlining

Reverse Ironing:

Once the pattern is dried, you should apply a thick layer of waste paper on it start ironing from the reverse side. Applying waste paper will ensure removal of the wax and also protect your ironing board from spoiling.

Outlining:

Take a permanent marker pen and start making outlines on the pattern after you have removed all the wax. I used a black marker pen to make outlines.

Step 6: Stitching the Cushion Cover

I have stitched a 12x12 inch size square shape cushion cover. So I have taken a fabric of 14x14 inches size. I will take 2 inches margin from all sides while I stitch it.

Step 7: Final Touch Up

After you have stitched the pillow, inverse it so that the right side comes out and wrong side or the stitched side goes inside. Now, you just need to iron it and it is ready to use.

To iron, take a damp cloth piece, put the pillow cover on the ironing board and cover it with damp cloth. Now start ironing it on "cotton setting". Please note that we need to cover the pillow cover with a damp cloth before ironing it because there still might be traces of wax on the cover which can spoil your electric iron and can also smudge and spoil the pillow cover.

Reddit 404 pillow cover is ready. It looks super cute with that Indigo denim color effect.