Neoprene runneth...
Slowly but surely... I have been slowly getting a second run of the neoprene done. (The picture above, is actually of the first neoprene run dated 2/24/03), I hopefully will get everything laminated and sent to everyone on the TDH list well before Star Wars Celebration IV. The cool part about the first run is that a lot of the leg work was already covered. The Dressing the Galaxy book affirmed that the crop top and pants were indeed a neoprene-like fabric. But, being the practical and exacting person that I am, I have to see if there was a step further I could take the crop top and pants by paring down the thickness. Right now, the thickness is probably around 1.5-2.0 mm thick for the tri-cot fabric. I just recently have sent the neoprene company 2 yards of custom dyed lycra to have a run of lycra and nylon lamination without the neoprene. I am hoping it adheres. My reasoning behind a thinner and duo-cot? fabric is that at FIDM, I noticed that the fabric at the elbow bends wrinkled more than my tricot fabric in which mine seemed a tad more bulky. It was very obvious that my tricot fabric was indeed pretty darn close to the real crop top and pants and not solely made of lycra. Lycra by itself would cause the look of the outfit to be like wearing a bathing suit with too many creases or bunching everywhere. If it works, I might offer this to the TDH project participants instead. It may prove to be tons more breathable and comfortable for the costumer, as well as easier to sew, unlike the tri-cot neoprene. (Who wants to break needles and add frustration on welt seams for naught?)
I am really satisfied with the color of my fabric in comparison to the Dressing the Galaxy book’s picture swatch. But my color comparison with my own two eyes is that the real fabric suit under FIDM lights is actually more pale than the swatch in the book. Lighting is so hard to control whether it be on paper, under special lights, or in the movies. So, although I about cried when I actually saw the actual costume colors, realistically, it was under different lighting, behind a plastic panel guard, and had the same sheen and weave as my custom dyed lycra. Needless to say, the pantone matching work that we did over 2 years ago was as close to the real thing as you can get, as evidenced by the comparison with Trisha Biggar’s “Dressing the Galaxy” book.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
