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So I'm going to be ambitious and attempt to make Alice's "rickrack" dress from the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland movie, for next year's Dragon*Con. I want to get an early start since I'm a complete noob when it comes to sewing, and I've already read a ton of helpful stuff. This week I purchased some fabric samples of the material I'm going to use to make the skirt, and did some sample dye swatches.
For the overlay I have 100% polyester rickrack. The underskirt is satin. I used RIT dye in a combination of Royal Blue, Navy Blue, and Teal, following Taeliac's amazing dye tutorial here.
On the left we have a picture of Mia Wasikowska on set wearing the skirt.
TOP LEFT: Test Swatch #1. I used just under 2 quarts of water and 1/8 tsp Royal Blue, 1/16 tsp Navy Blue, and 1/16 tsp Teal and agitated the fabric for 8 minutes in simmering water, per Taeliac's instructions. The end result barely made a difference, so--without dumping the previous dye bath out--I added another round of dye in the same formula as above, and agitated for another 8 minutes. The result is actually a very light ice blue, almost gray. Yeah, I don't even know. CRUCIAL NOTE: I completely forgot to soak the fabric before putting it in the dye bath BOTH times. Stupid me. Pretty color, but nowhere close to a match.
BOTTOM LEFT: TEST SWATCH #. Same amount of water, but this time I doubled the dye amount: 1/4 tsp NAVY blue, 1/8 tsp Royal Blue, 1/8 tsp Teal. This time I also remembered to fully soak the fabric before tossing it in the dye bath, and I agitated for 10 minutes. This time, for curiosity's sake I also threw in a scrap of 100% cotton--part of an old sock of my son's. The difference is quite telling! However, this time I think I may have nailed the coloring. The picture here makes both swatches look a little darker than they actually are, so I'm considering running the second swatch through a light bath of Navy Blue and just a smidge of Teal.
My conclusion: Synthetic fabric definitely does NOT take well to RIT dye, but given the stark contrast between synthetic and the cotton, I'd rather stick with synthetic for both rather than try to dye cotton and satin the same color.
Since I'm a complete newcomer to costuming and fabric manipulation, does anyone have any suggestions? I'd love to hear them.
For the overlay I have 100% polyester rickrack. The underskirt is satin. I used RIT dye in a combination of Royal Blue, Navy Blue, and Teal, following Taeliac's amazing dye tutorial here.
On the left we have a picture of Mia Wasikowska on set wearing the skirt.
TOP LEFT: Test Swatch #1. I used just under 2 quarts of water and 1/8 tsp Royal Blue, 1/16 tsp Navy Blue, and 1/16 tsp Teal and agitated the fabric for 8 minutes in simmering water, per Taeliac's instructions. The end result barely made a difference, so--without dumping the previous dye bath out--I added another round of dye in the same formula as above, and agitated for another 8 minutes. The result is actually a very light ice blue, almost gray. Yeah, I don't even know. CRUCIAL NOTE: I completely forgot to soak the fabric before putting it in the dye bath BOTH times. Stupid me. Pretty color, but nowhere close to a match.
BOTTOM LEFT: TEST SWATCH #. Same amount of water, but this time I doubled the dye amount: 1/4 tsp NAVY blue, 1/8 tsp Royal Blue, 1/8 tsp Teal. This time I also remembered to fully soak the fabric before tossing it in the dye bath, and I agitated for 10 minutes. This time, for curiosity's sake I also threw in a scrap of 100% cotton--part of an old sock of my son's. The difference is quite telling! However, this time I think I may have nailed the coloring. The picture here makes both swatches look a little darker than they actually are, so I'm considering running the second swatch through a light bath of Navy Blue and just a smidge of Teal.
My conclusion: Synthetic fabric definitely does NOT take well to RIT dye, but given the stark contrast between synthetic and the cotton, I'd rather stick with synthetic for both rather than try to dye cotton and satin the same color.
Since I'm a complete newcomer to costuming and fabric manipulation, does anyone have any suggestions? I'd love to hear them.
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As an experienced "sewer" (I'm 22 and made first wearable garmet at 12)...I can say that this is a bit of a difficult project for an inexperienced sewer. I recommend finding a skirt pattern with a similar shape to the costume. Make sure the pattern can be used with satin fabrics. Make sure to pay attention to "biases" and the instructions for them indicated by the pattern. Cutting the fabric on the bias allows for stretch and ease while sewing.
Also, satin tends to want to gather or pucker up when machine sewing. So, I recommend dropping down the tension on the sewing machine (i drop mine to a 2, but everyones may be different). Also, use a longer stitch, about a 4.
As for the ric-rac trims..you will be needing quite a bit (many,many packages). I recommend making the underpart of the skirt first, then take measurements around the skirt to help estimate exactly how much you may need.
I also recommend hand stitching the trim to the skirt...this way you can take small stitches that will be less noticeable than with a machine.
Sorry for the long comment. Hope it turns out.
Also, satin tends to want to gather or pucker up when machine sewing. So, I recommend dropping down the tension on the sewing machine (i drop mine to a 2, but everyones may be different). Also, use a longer stitch, about a 4.
As for the ric-rac trims..you will be needing quite a bit (many,many packages). I recommend making the underpart of the skirt first, then take measurements around the skirt to help estimate exactly how much you may need.
I also recommend hand stitching the trim to the skirt...this way you can take small stitches that will be less noticeable than with a machine.
Sorry for the long comment. Hope it turns out.