| Author |
Topic:
Fabric weathering
|
Janz_Walker
Registered:
Sep '00
|
Date Posted:
9/27/03 8:10pm
Subject:
Fabric weathering
- Date Edited:
1/23 1:17pm (3 edits total)
Edited By:
Sister_Sola
|
I was just wondering if any of you had any tips on weathering fabric to make it look like it's been through a lot.
One costume needs to look like the wearer has been on a deserted planet for a year or two.
And the other needs to look like it's spent a year in a coal mine. 
Chris
EDIT: I must also say that the fabric is the type of stuff you'd find on the bargain rack at Joann's.
S_S edit: just unlocking
-----signature-----
Chris "Jans" Walker The New Jedi Order Project - http://www.njoproject.com/ - Spotlighted on THEFORCE.NET!  The Episode I Shipset - http://episodeishipset.njoproject.com/ Star Wars Fanworks - http://www.starwarsfanworks.com/
|
Locked Topic |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
FERDALUMP
Registered:
May '02
|
Date Posted:
9/27/03 9:11pm
Subject:
RE: Fabric weathering
|
Not to make it sound too easy--but basically you have to put it through a lot. Twist and coil the material--wad it up, tie knots in it--throw it in a hot water bath and maybe even wash and dry it a few times. You can then take sharp rocks and maybe a brick and beat the fabric. Even wrap a rock in the material and beat it into the ground. If you make holes in the material wash it to make the holes fray out a bit. You can also add a lot of weather and such with painting techniques. Dry brushes and paint mixed with dirt work well. Give a fine mist with spray paint is rough uneven strokes. Tea or coffee can be used to add age and "stains" to the material too. For a coal mine look BBQ charcoal would simmulate coal well.
Hope that helps!
Ferd
Now...my request:
I need to make velvet (dark green) appear to be aged. I don't want to crush the nap or tear or paint the material--but I want it to appear as though it has been exposed to the sun a lot, and like it isn't fresh off the store rack. Make sense?
Please help! Any suggestions would be great!
-----signature-----
See! Monkeys Can Sew!!  http://www.ferdalump.com "I intend to be great all by myself." ~Lex Luthor "The Suspense is Killing me...I hope it lasts!" ~Willy Wonka
|
Locked Topic |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
DarthJurist
Title: Admin Emeritus
Registered:
Dec '00
|
Date Posted:
9/27/03 9:33pm
Subject:
RE: Fabric weathering
- Date Edited:
9/28/03 9:29am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
DarthJurist
|
For 'severe' weathering, try sandpaper, cheese graters, or even a blowtorch (check cooking stores for small ones used in cooking) in addition to all the suggestions made above. The sandpaper and grater will give the fabric a frayed look, and be sure to do it unevenly, but then also put some where fabric naturally wear... knees, elbows, front of shirt, shoulders, etc.
Here's a page with some detailed ideas.
As for the velvet... I was going to suggest light dry brushing with a paint that is one or two shades lighter than the velvet. My other idea would be to try using a very fine gauge sandpaper to fray the fibers a bit?
~H~
edit: spelling
-----signature-----
Chicagoforce.org
G'Quon wrote: There is a greater darkness than the one we fight.
It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way.
Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams.
Against this peril we can never surrender
|
Locked Topic |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
Stubbzilla
Title: TFN Costumes Staff
Registered:
Jan '01
|
Date Posted:
9/28/03 7:43am
Subject:
RE: Fabric weathering
|
|
Leave the velvet item in the back seat of your car for a couple weeks, flipping as needed.
-----signature-----
|
Locked Topic |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
SithKittie
Registered:
Jul '03
|
Date Posted:
9/28/03 5:20pm
Subject:
RE: Fabric weathering
|
|
I was thinking hang the velvet out in the sun - like on a clothesline, so long as its sunny out. though be careful, you might wreck the fabric and that would suck.
-----signature-----
~Sith Kittie~
"Trust the fungus."
|
Locked Topic |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
FERDALUMP
Registered:
May '02
|
Date Posted:
9/28/03 6:45pm
Subject:
RE: Fabric weathering
|
I am making a pint sized Drapery Dress from GWTW--I would like to simmulate sun fading (like the fabric was originally curtains that have hung in the window for years) Obviously, I don't have a lot of time to sun fade the fabric--2 weeks at the most. I also have several yards of the velvet and I can't really spread it out in my little car's backseat
I guess I was hoping someone had some secret way of speeding up the sun fade process--but I don't want to ruin the velvet by trying weird techniques that aren't proven.
Thanks for your help ya'll!
Ferd
-----signature-----
See! Monkeys Can Sew!! http://www.ferdalump.com "I intend to be great all by myself." ~Lex Luthor "The Suspense is Killing me...I hope it lasts!" ~Willy Wonka
|
Locked Topic |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
across0the0stars
Registered:
Jul '03
|
Date Posted:
9/28/03 7:11pm
Subject:
RE: Fabric weathering
|
|
what about special light bulbs made for growing plants? they're called grow lights i think..., but those might help ya =P
|
Locked Topic |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
darth_hair
Registered:
May '01
|
Date Posted:
9/29/03 7:59am
Subject:
RE: Fabric weathering
|
|
i had to wash a sidewalk with a bandana once because thats all i had . it looked really used when i was done . sand paper sounds good but concrete is free and always needs cleaning .
-----signature-----
PACKAGED IN A HANDY POCKET-SIZED FORMAT http://www.darthhair.com/ http://www.blockleash.com/ i would loose my head if it wasnt firmly lodged in my ass bite my shiny metal ass
|
Locked Topic |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
Sister_Sola
Title: Manager, Costuming & Props
Registered:
Nov '02
|
Date Posted:
3/6/06 1:32pm
Subject:
RE: Fabric weathering
|
|
Unlocked and bumping for recent query.
-----signature-----
Dragon*Con '08 pics: http://www.sistersola.com/dcon08/dcon08.html --------------------------------------------------------
|
Locked Topic |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
Forcebewitya
Registered:
Jun '02
|
Date Posted:
3/6/06 11:09pm
Subject:
RE: Fabric weathering
|
I found while weathering my Tusken Raider mask the best thing to use to make something appear dirty is to go to an art store and buy a pack of artist's chalk. I got the colors brown black, tan, and reddish brown. Then I pounded them into powder, and smeared it with my fingers onto the fabric where I wanted to weather it. Basically I dirtied my hands and wiped em all over the fabric like I would to clean them. Also for making holes I simply used a scissors and cut where I wanted the hole to be and then used a wire brush to fray the edges. I got a great result I think and I am very proud of it. Hope that helps check my profile for a link to my picture page where you can see the mask if you'd like.
Forcebewitya.
-----signature-----
"take a train to the nearest awakening, took a bullet the speed of light into infinite time."
It seems like a good daydream but....-Imperative Reaction
"The Bird of Hermes is My Name Eating My Wings to Make Me Tame"
|
Locked Topic |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
DARTH_VAD
Registered:
Jun '02
|
Date Posted:
7/1/06 3:20pm
Subject:
RE: Fabric weathering
|
Hello I bought red cotton fabric for a 16th cent. skirt however my bodice is more of a rust color. So I was wondering how could I weather the color of the shirt to look more like/closer to the rust bodice.
Please help!
-----signature-----
"Courage is... the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared."- David Ben-Gurion
RIP Carol 1948-2002 you were the best mother a child could ask for
|
Locked Topic |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
Zelda_Skywalker
Registered:
Sep '05
|
Date Posted:
7/1/06 5:32pm
Subject:
RE: Fabric weathering
|
one of my friends did this to one of his tuxedos to make himself look..like he's rotted in a haunted mansion for a few years.
he got his mum to run back and forth over it with the car(SUV's work best)
scrape it on the side walk then throw it at the wall. nail it to a piece of wood, then rip it off.
stomp on it....stomp it into the dirt...
it all works.
-----signature-----
I've found my fantasy guy,
the dude in shiny armor stuffs who comes to save my stupid butt,
yup. i believe in love.
|
Locked Topic |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
kay_dee
Title: SFFF VIP
Council Member & Webmaster
Registered:
Jun '02
|
Date Posted:
7/7/06 10:50pm
Subject:
RE: Fabric weathering
|
DARTH_VAD posted:
Hello I bought red cotton fabric for a 16th cent. skirt however my bodice is more of a rust color. So I was wondering how could I weather the color of the shirt to look more like/closer to the rust bodice.
Please help!
Hum, if you really need it to be a different color you might play with dipping it in dye. Maybe a weak solution of brown to dull the color and make it more rusty rather than red? I'd imagine just weathering it (fraying techniques discussed here) isn't what you are after. You can always make the color paler by washing repeatedly in hot water (as I did with a recent Luke vest) but that will just give you a lighter shade of red rather than a rust color.
-----signature-----
Kay Dee's Costumes: http://kay-dee.net/costume The San Francisco Fan Force: http://www.sffanforce.com Rebel Legion - Endor Base: http://www.endorbase.org
|
Locked Topic |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
Maulested
Registered:
Jul '05
|
Date Posted:
7/8/06 12:07pm
Subject:
RE: Fabric weathering
|
for velvet, try mixing water and bleach in a spray bottle and try spraying on the fabric for that sun bleached look. soft scrub cleanser also works really well for removing color. hot water washing works really well of distressing fabric. when i made my brother's bleach costume we had a great time cutting and then burning it with a long click style lighter. it looked really cool with the polyester material.
i found a great article on creating a 'vintage' look on a new t-shirt in, of all places, men's helth magazine. it looked pretty easy (i mean, it is men't health ; ). i will find it and post it up.
-----signature-----
"Now this is what I call pod racing!"
www.rallyestar.com www.driftpirate.com
"My revenge on you will not kill you. It will only make you want to kill yourself."- My Ruin
"...he starts of as just some emo kid with issues..." - Kevin Smith on Anakin
|
Locked Topic |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
Sister_Sola
Title: Manager, Costuming & Props
Registered:
Nov '02
|
Date Posted:
7/8/06 3:24pm
Subject:
RE: Fabric weathering
|
Forcebewitya posted:
I found while weathering my Tusken Raider mask the best thing to use to make something appear dirty is to go to an art store and buy a pack of artist's chalk. I got the colors brown black, tan, and reddish brown. Then I pounded them into powder, and smeared it with my fingers onto the fabric where I wanted to weather it. Basically I dirtied my hands and wiped em all over the fabric like I would to clean them. Also for making holes I simply used a scissors and cut where I wanted the hole to be and then used a wire brush to fray the edges. I got a great result I think and I am very proud of it. Hope that helps check my profile for a link to my picture page where you can see the mask if you'd like.
This sounds pretty good - one thing though, does the chalk dust tend to shake or blow off a bit in regular wear? And you'd have to redo it if you washed the costume too, right?
-----signature-----
Dragon*Con '08 pics: http://www.sistersola.com/dcon08/dcon08.html --------------------------------------------------------
|
Locked Topic |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
Sister_Sola
Title: Manager, Costuming & Props
Registered:
Nov '02
|
Date Posted:
1/23 1:17pm
Subject:
RE: Fabric weathering
|
|
Unlocked for recent query.
-----signature-----
Dragon*Con '08 pics: http://www.sistersola.com/dcon08/dcon08.html --------------------------------------------------------
|
Locked Topic |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
