Mottle-dyed embossed velvet for Into the Woods

[labricoleuse]

For the second of the Witch's costumes in our production of Into the Woods at Playmakers Repertory Company, designer Bill Brewer had a truly fantastic vision for a sort of wizardy robe made of ornately-dyed and embossed velvet.

Draper Denise Chukhina came up with the process for how this fabric would be created, from which she would then make the costume.

Costume Designer Bill Brewer's rendering of the Witch's second look. Note how unusual that fabric is.


First, Denise spread out the fabric on our steel dyeroom table.
This is one of seven pieces of silk/rayon velvet she worked on.
Notice how scrunchy it is on there--this helps with the varigation in the dye process.


Here she's applied the dyes to the velvet. We used a combination of acid dyes and fiber reactive dyes.
The fabric was steamed and washed after this stage.


Here, Denise uses an industrial iron and several carved wooden embossing stamps
to press patterns into the velvet's pile.


Here's a close-up of the finished fabric.


And here's Denise modeling the robe to show the overall look.
Beautiful fabric for an amazing costume!

Comments

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

This is just stunning. I have some questions about the techniques that were employed.

When doing the multi-color dying like that, is it allowed to dry in place prior to the steaming? If not, how do you prevent muddying of the colors?

Embossing with the wood blocks: I have some vintage Turkish woodblocks that I've wanted to try using for embossing velvet. What kind of temperature was used to ensure a good embossing without scorching?

Thanks!

[labricoleuse.livejournal.com]

1. We did not let the dye dry. We let it set for at least an hour, sometimes longer. We wanted the colors to mix and blend in this case, but we steamed it on a wire rack in the large dye vat to control what blended with what. So we didn't have like, orange and blue turning into brown, but we did get red and blue purpling in places.

2. We set the iron at a middle-temp setting (it has a dial with 1-5, we set it at 3). Pressing from the reverse side with the pile against the wood block, blast of steam, and it's good. You don't have to leave the iron on the fabric long enough to scorch.

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

Thanks for getting back to me on this. I really love the results, and knowing how it worked is useful for when I want to try something similar on a home-scale.

[replyhazy.livejournal.com]

I want to come play at your house. :(

SMILE

[laddona radley (from livejournal.com)]

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