Digitally Printed Zeppelin Fabric for Cabaret
We're hard at work on the final show of the season at Playmakers Repertory Company, Kander and Ebb's Cabaret, and even though the show's only been in rehearsal for a week, in the costume shop we've been at it for a month already.
There are so many crafts projects in this show that i have a co-crafts artisan, second-year graduate student Candy McClernan. Candy has a particular interest in computer-aided design and the application of digital technologies to costume production, and this show has provided us with quite a few projects in that area for Candy to troubleshoot. This post is about the first of several, the creation of a custom zeppelin-print fabric for the character of Sally Bowles.
Costume design for Sally Bowles, Act I Scene 2, by Jennifer Caprio
Costume designer Jennifer Caprio provided us with this research image of a 1934 dress with a fantastic zeppelin print! She asked us to create a fabric as close to the print on this dress as possible, in shades of green.
First, Candy zoomed in on the image and isolated as much of the original textile print as she could.
This is that section on the model's stomach.
In conversation with the designer about the aesthetic goals of the textile,
the decision was made to draw into the original in pencil to retain the sketchy quality of the art.
Here is a scan of Candy's drawing from which the repeat will be created.
Candy's used Kimberly Kight's excellent reference text, A Field Guide to Fabric Design,
in setting up her repeat with Photoshop. This art makes a simple square repeat,
same as the original fabric in the research image.
Candy then uploaded the art to Spoonflower and we ordered a fat quarter for a test swatch. The designer approved it, yardage was purchased, and it just arrived yesterday in plenty of time for the draper to cut it.
Want to make your own zeppelin dress? Candy's fabric is available on Spoonflower here!
There are so many crafts projects in this show that i have a co-crafts artisan, second-year graduate student Candy McClernan. Candy has a particular interest in computer-aided design and the application of digital technologies to costume production, and this show has provided us with quite a few projects in that area for Candy to troubleshoot. This post is about the first of several, the creation of a custom zeppelin-print fabric for the character of Sally Bowles.
Costume design for Sally Bowles, Act I Scene 2, by Jennifer Caprio
Costume designer Jennifer Caprio provided us with this research image of a 1934 dress with a fantastic zeppelin print! She asked us to create a fabric as close to the print on this dress as possible, in shades of green.
First, Candy zoomed in on the image and isolated as much of the original textile print as she could.
This is that section on the model's stomach.
In conversation with the designer about the aesthetic goals of the textile,
the decision was made to draw into the original in pencil to retain the sketchy quality of the art.
Here is a scan of Candy's drawing from which the repeat will be created.
Candy's used Kimberly Kight's excellent reference text, A Field Guide to Fabric Design,
in setting up her repeat with Photoshop. This art makes a simple square repeat,
same as the original fabric in the research image.
Candy then uploaded the art to Spoonflower and we ordered a fat quarter for a test swatch. The designer approved it, yardage was purchased, and it just arrived yesterday in plenty of time for the draper to cut it.
Want to make your own zeppelin dress? Candy's fabric is available on Spoonflower here!