Padme Amidala Padme Purple Dress - Loyalist Committee

Thanks KayDee.

These are new dyes and it's my first time using them to dye raw silk and cotton fabric to dark brown colours. That's why I want to see how the dyes would look before I end up dyeing 10 yards of raw silk, 5 of cotton and 2 or 3 of china silk.
I was going to use the washing machine for the large amount sof fabric, and use the stove for the small samples.

Questions: Will this escew the results? I'm thinking it would, but am unsure.
I'm caustious cuz I'm making someone a Jedi costume and I truly don't want to mess it up. I do know dark brown and black dyes ask for double the normal amounts of dye for a rich deep hue.

 

Yes, it's always a great idea to do test swatches. I too start out with small squares (maybe 4" x 2") when I'm just trying to see what the colors will look like on my fabric - especially with mixing colors. Then when I have it close I test it on a larger sample (maybe 10"x10" or bigger) just to make sure it all holds up.

There will be a bit of variance when you move from stove top to washing machine. Everything has an effect on the color (temperature, concentration of the dye, time it's in the bath). Since you don't plan to use the stove-top for your final method, I would do your tests with water that's the same temperature as what will be in your washing machine. That might mean you just keep your sample on low on the stove top. Or maybe you'll have to take it off the stove all together. Perhaps use a cooking thermometer to test the warmth of the water that sits in your machine when you fill it, then try to keep your tests close to that temperature.

Good luck with the Jedi robes. I know we have a "new dye thread" of some sort in this forum. I'd imagine it's indexed on the welcome page here. There are other people who could give advise there too

- Kay Dee

 

That does help a lot Kay Dee. Now what sort of pot do you use for stove top? Steel?

 

They say non-reactive metal like stainless steel or an enamel pot is best. It's not advisable to use the same utensils and cookware you eat with - so usually a thrift store can be an option for picking up an inexpensive old pot.

- Kay Dee

 

Stainless Steel was what I thought. Guess it's thrift store hopping for me.:-D Thanks again

 

FYI - for anyone who has considered making this costume, I got a mailer from Silk Connection today and they say that they will be discontinuing their burnout velvet yardage. The Flames pattern is currently on sale for $8.40 a yard.

- Kay Dee

 

THat's good to know! I bought some of the burnout "just in case" a month or two ago - I was afraid I would miss out! Guess it's good I got it! I wonder if I should order some extra anyway! It will be scary to work with it - I'll be afraid to mess up! But this costume is so far in the future!

 

Does that mean they will be discontinuing all there burn-out velvet.

Just a question how much velvet did you use for your coat?

I will have to think about it, but I am just afraid that I will buy it and get bored of costuming some day or that someday I will want to make the costume and won't have the fabric.


I must ponder on this.

 

All I know is that below the listing for all the burnout velvets it said they would be discontinued. If you want clarification I'd e-mail customer service.

I may have posted in here or on my web site how many yards of velvet I used. I bought about 13 yards, but in the end I think I used close to 8. However, everyone drafts their pattern a little differently. I would hate for you to get 8 yards and come up short.

- Kay Dee

 

Wow that alot but now that I think of it, it makes sense I need oreder 2yds of another burnout velvet and I would ove to someday (years from now when my skill level is there) So I need to think about this.

Thanks Kay_Dee.

 

Unlocked for recent query.

 

Thank-you for opening the thread!

I have found a supplier for the white 'Flames' burnout silk velvet! I asked for a shipping quote to Australia for 12 meters and was told there waas a $50 fee for ordering under 200 meters and the shipping was $115 US. The fabric itself was $5.85 per meter!

For that order alone would make the fabric $19.40 per meter. So it works out pretty well compared to me buying it from Thai Silks when they had it!

I have decided to hold my order until the end of December/start of January.

Is anyone interested in making a bulk order? If you would like to order it seperatly yourself that is fine!

Post if you are interested!

 

I told you over on AOI that I was def interested in some

 

Yes I remember! LOL I am not missing out this time!

I got an em-mail from the company and for the 200 meters it will cost $3046.70 US

That would make the fabric $15.25 per meter. (A meter equals 39 1/4 inches)

Then shipping to your destination will be on top of that!

So add your name if you would like to be a part of this order and the amount you would like!

fairyprincess - 15m
princessleia911 - 15m

 

It's great to see you are getting interest in a group order for the flame burn-out velvet. Did you e-mail Padawan's Guide about it? When I told her about your situation she said she'd be happy to post it in her news section if you'd like people to contact you to get in on your fabric order.

By-the-way... it was not Thai Silks that originally carried the burn-out flame velvet. It was Silk Connection.

- kay dee

 

Thanks for the Correction Kay Dee! I thought I may have been wrong!

Maggie e-mailed me and all I need to do is do a write up!

I am sure that even if we don't get the 200 meters there will be an increase in this discussion of the costume!

 

I just posted a link to this forum discussion here - but if you give me a writeup, fairyprincess (with whatever contact info you like for folks not on this board), then I'll post it.

Maggie

 

Yes. Sorry has been a busy week! Will do it when I get back from theatre!

 

I'm in too for 15m! Tell me then what the total costs are.
Great job fairyprincess! Hope we can reach the 200m!

 

Iam interested in this fabric too. I need 20 m. But Iam from Czech Republic. Is it problem? Maybe If I´ll order it and pay it, you can send it to my friend, who is living in USA, and she´ll send it to my country. Thank you for your answer.

 

oh yes, I'm from Austria, didn't think of that! Hope we can find out a perfect way for shipping.

 

Wonderful!

What I will do is go to the Post office tomorrow and ask for a guideline of the international shipping rates!

 

FYI - you'll want to make sure you are careful about the way the velvet is packaged when you ship it. You don't want it to be crushed and damaged, so I would not mail it in anything like padded envelopes. The most optimal way to avoid any crush wrinkles is to roll it and mail it in long boxes or tubes. The second way is to use lots and lots of tissue paper when you fold the fabric in a roomy box. The less folds, the better. Don't smash the fabric down or try to squeeze it into a small box. There is still risk of permanent crushing when you fold it, but the tissue should help minimize it if you use enough of it at every fold.

 

kay_dee has a good point - it's really easy to damage velvet!

 

Thanks for that tip!

I knew to roll velvet and had concerns especially with shipping! Hopefully the tubes will be big enough!