3 replies to this topic

[boxerbrady]

Hi All,

Thought this was the best place to get some good advice.

I am on the production team for an amateur production of Cats - The Musical. We have spent the last two days painting costumes m(unitards)- some made of lycra and some made of a stretch cotton.

Have waited 48 hours and following occurred:

1) Paint on stretch cotton was gritty - didnt look stable. Washed it lukewarm water and it has basically broken into gritty bits and stained into the background fabric. Write off!
2) Lycra - bit gritty/flaky in bits - some wash off when washed - but no staining of background fabric and by enlarge still looks in pretty good nick. Are still some flaky bits and gritty bits but not too bad.

We followed the limited instructions and I think a number of probs occurred - layered colours too quickly, maybe not right paint, maybe need to leave longer before washing.

I dont have the brand with me but can find out .
As this show is very vigorous - washing costumes - crutches/arm pits - need washing and also at the end of the show.


Is there a paint that you can recommend - in bulk sizes - spotlight stuff is puny - and some application methods that any of you can recommend or point me in the right direction.


Thanks

[morgan-aleghieri]

I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but are there fabric inks that would maybe stain/dye the fabric in the configuration of your choosing? Fabric paint itself is always going to be irksome in the high mobility/wear and tear kind of sense...

Silk painting comes to mind, though I can't say for sure that the way that's done is relevant or not.

[mdb]

http://www.s8.createphpbb.com/ccdb/index.php
http://www.furnation.com/timber/cats/costuming/body.html
http://msmagistifo.freehomepage.com/custom.html
http://www.angelfire.com/wa3/spazzy/6unitard.htm


There are people who do these costumes for fun so there is a lot of information out there on different techniques fortunately. My personal experience has been with dyeing in Dylon and permanent markers. The latter work but they can bleed. Dylon multipurpose (stovetop) works very well for "ombre" dyeing to get shades of different colours by altering how hot and how long you hold nylon lycra in the dye bath.

[MistressFey]

Some fabric paints require heat to fix before washing (ie iron on the reverse side). You should usually leave it for 72 hours before washing (3 days)

About the only other advice I can offer is making sure the fabric paint is suitable for lycra and stretching your fabric before painting. Painting the fabric and then stretching it to fit will rip the lines of paint and make them more likely to flake and peel off.