Beautiful Batik and Historic Romney Manor

On a cruise to the Southern Caribbean islands, we had a stop at St. Kitts.

Along with the natural beauty of the island and its people we spent several hours at Romney Manor and Caribelle Batik.

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Caribelle Batik is a shop that sells popular batik products that are some of the most sought after in the Caribbean. Batik is created using an ancient Indonesian method that uses wax to resist dye on parts of the fabric.

Romney Manor

Romey Manor is a stately estate once owned by the great-great-great-grandfather of Thomas Jefferson. To date, the estate has had 5 owners, including the Earl of Romney. Lord Romney declared his slaves to be free men, becoming the first estate in St. Kitts to do so.

The Romney estate was involved in growing and distilling sugar cane for over 350 years! Their government ended sugar cane production on St. Kitts in 2005, mostly because of economic reasons. Then in the 1970s, the current owner of Romney Manor started the batik business and gardens. St. Kitts main economy is tourism.

Along with many tropical plants, Romney Manor and Gardens has a magnificent Saman tree, the largest living organism in St. Kitts. It is over 400 years old, 24 ft in circumference, and covers ½ acre!

Caribelle Batik

Romney Manor is home to Caribelle Batik. In a house on the grounds, artisans demonstrate the batik process.

What is Batik

Batik is an art form that dates back thousands of years to its beginnings in Indonesia. Batik is a “resist” process for making designs on fabric. Wax is used to prevent dye from penetrating the cloth, leaving “blank” areas in the dyed fabric. The process, wax resist then dye, can be repeated over and over to create complex multicolored designs.

The Batik Process

At Caribelle Batik we saw a demonstration of how the process works. It made me want to come home and try it. I haven’t yet but it is still on my to-do list.

In creating Batik prints, you start with a natural fiber fabric like cotton. If you want the base color to be something other than white, dye the fabric to the base color you want. If your pattern will have multiple colors, you will want to dye from the lightest to the darkest.

The Batik wax is then melted in a double boiler or wax pot. The fabric needs to be framed so it is flat and taunt. Special tools called Tjanting tools are used to make designs and fine lines. You can also use metal stamps or brushes.

Tub dye the fabric, then rinse and wash in lukewarm water. You don’t want to melt any of the wax. Let the fabric dry. Repeat the waxing, dyeing, and washing for each color.

When you have done all the dyeing, remove the wax by putting the fabric in boiling water or put the fabric between pieces of newspaper and iron the wax off.

Do another wash and rinse. At Caribelle Batik the fabric is dried in the warm Caribbean sun, so it would make sense to air dry your fabric.

Remember that the dye will affect any area that does not have wax. Also, using more than one dye will create a unique color based on their combinations. For example, if your base color is yellow and you cover with turquoise, the result will be green.

The End Result

Depending on the size of your fabric, it can be used for a garment or accessory or framed as a beautiful piece of art!

In St. Kitts be sure to visit Romney Manor and Caribelle Batik and see this art form demonstrated that dates back thousands of years to its beginnings in Indonesia. #StKitts #RomneyManor #Batik #Art Share on X