Metrini’s Angel
The designs from Batax are unique for many reasons. Each design has fabric sourced from Indonesian artisans who hand weave and dye them, then founder and designer Metrini Weaver utilizes those fabrics to brighten her western-style designs. You may be well aware of this part of our process, but did you know that almost every design is sewn by seamstress Angela Yap who Metrini calls Angel?
“I wanted someone who would be honest with me,” Metrini explains. She was looking for someone she could trust with her vision and the responsibility of putting these delicate and valuable pieces together. After asking everyone she knew, she finally found her angel.
Angela is an Indonesian mother and seamstress with a passion for sewing. Just before the lockdown, Angel spent her time volunteering at her church, helping with sewing needs, and opened a dry cleaning business. But the COVID-19 pandemic changed life dramatically for both Metrini and Angela. Metrini couldn’t travel to purchase fabrics, while business slowed at the dry cleaner for Angela, but both proud immigrant women came up with an idea—mask making. At the time, there was a dire need for masks and Batax could source materials that could be transformed into masks. The initial plan was to deliver the finished products to local hospitals and businesses that needed them; they were also donated to the Navajo Nation in Arizona.
Metrini recalls, “The only problem we had was figuring out the proper design so the mask covered both the mouth and nose while also fitting comfortably around the ears.”
Angela lends her years of experience to Metrini who blends it with her years in design school. Angela is mindful of just how unique and valuable the fabric Metrini incorporates into her designs are. Nothing goes to waste around Angela which is how Batax was able to pivot to making masks and curating designs like the Batik Denim Robe, the Jasmine Floral collection, and many of our tapestries. Metrini’s latest design, the Flores vests, are also sewn by Angela.