Lady Jemima
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Authentic costumes: painted, dyed, or both?This question is cross-posted at the costuming board, but I know that there are many knowledgeable people here who might be able to help me out.
A few very quick questions about authentic costumes: are they painted, dyed, or both? If both (which I'm assuming will be the answer), does anyone know what sort of paints and dyes are used? They must be strong to hold up through so many washings. I know this will probably vary from production to production, but a general idea would be great. Thank you so much!
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*asterix*
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| Drumdraper wrote: | | But how would they use acid dyes to do the individual items like multi-colored stripes, spots, etc? |
You can paint with certain formulas of acid dyes, more or less the way you would paint with regular fabric paint (getting the right consistancy to avoid bleed-outs requires practice, of course)
This applies more to acid dyes like those made by Jaquards or Ciba (prolly other brands, too, but Jaquards are what I've found online and I buy Ciba locally) rather than, say, RIT or Dylon dyes which are set with boiling water and best applied in a vat. With Ciba (and presumably Jaquards, but I've yet to try their acid dye) you can vat dye, but you also have the option of applying with a brush or squidgy bottle, etc etc, as you would a paint. The fabric must be stretched flat, so there is no contact with any surface beneath because the dye does go right through to the other side and will screw up the line and create general ickyness if allowed to pool. The dye is then allowed to dry completely before being put through a mandatory steaming process. Without steaming (not just heat setting as by most fabric paints and a household iron, but immersing in a vat of steam) the dye can not complete its reaction and is likely to bleed, fleck off, and just be generally nasty.
Unlike paints, which essentially dry to a plastic coating on top of the fabric (a flexible, high-pigment plastic if the paints are good), the dye actually seeps in to the fibres, not just binding to them but becoming part of them chemically, so that it takes a break down of the fibre itself to show any difference to the "paint job" colours.
As it is not really an option to "re dye" a sewn, finished garmet without re-openning the seams and a lot of complication in stretching, when the authentic costumes wear down like this I have heard that they are simply touched up with your average sharpie marker. Because the wear and fade-age is generally a result of damage to the fabric, if a large patch has aded that would presumably be where the "match up" dyed patches come in, or if the entire piece has faded so badly it is likely time to replace it entirely.
Acid Dye is not a common option for fan costumes because the steaming process can be expensive, complicated, and generally requires a lot of space to work and store things (eg a full size stretching wrack & a public garbage-bin-sized steaming aparatus)
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