Batik has long been a fabric for traditional dress and costumes of the Malays, especially for the people in the east coast states of West Malaysia.
In fact, batik is quite normal dressing attire for these states of Kelantan and Trengganu, and also for the Pahang Malays near the borders of these states.
Especially in Kelantan and Terengganu, you can see folks wearing the batik shirts as well as the batik sarong not only in the villages or kampung, but also around town. And do not be surprised that the batik sarong usually associated as women’s wear in the west coast of Peninsula Malaysia is actually normal sarong wear for the men in the east coast as well.
Products that are made from the batik cloth range from dresses, shirts, sarongs and headwear to table covers, bedcovers, handkerchiefs, etc., in fact anything which can be made from the batik cloth.
At Natural Batik Village, teams of artists turn cotton and silk cloth into works of art, either for dress, wall hangings, paintings, or to be used in producing cenderamata (Malay for handicrafts) such as purses, bandannas, bed coverings and so forth. Some designs are drawn free-hand, using copper canting (also known as tjanting) which enables a fix line of hot wax to be laid down. The cloth is then dyed with only the waxed portion retaining the color covered by the wax.
Although not as famous or popular as the batik of Terengganu and Kelantan, Pahang batik has, nevertheless, thrived as a small industry in the periphery of the fame and popularity of the Trengganu and Kelantan batik.