On Monday May 8 a group of 20 members visited The Batik Boutique at Desa Sri Hartamas.

Everyone was excited as they looked forward to hands-on Batik making.

We were warmly welcomed by the staff and we saw the Batik studio. We were given coffee or tea with a nice piece of cake, baked by a lady from The Batik Boutique, and got an inspiring introduction from the owner and founder Amy Blair. She explained their social cause and impact as a business model. They specialize in training women from low-income backgrounds to produce gifts and fashion accessories made from traditional Malaysian batik and tie-dye techniques such as Shibori and Itajime.

At the moment there are several enthusiastic people running The Batik Boutique. There are beautiful products, like bags, scarfs, dresses, interior items and jewellery to name a few. They use cotton, silk and linen as basic material and eco-friendly colours e.g. from turmeric, mangosteen, organic indigo. All products find their way to customers, companies, gifts at birthday parties and so on. Last year they have worked with 175 Artisans.

After all our ladies were taught how to make a Shibori handkerchief by two lovely teachers, we had to fold, tie, colour and dry it. Then came the most exciting moment:  to see the results of everyone’s colourful piece. It was great fun! After the final touch with a hairdryer the cloth was ironed and we could take it home. Some members decided to buy several items from the shop.

It was a great experience to all of us! Thanks to Amy and her team!

Quickly we headed to the restaurant we reserved a table to find out it was… closed! (Monday’s ?) Luckily some ladies knew a good replacement in the neighbourhood. After a nice chat and good food all went home very satisfied.

Write up by Matty Collette

Photos by Matty Collette and Natalia Gutierrez