Focus On: Top Finishes

When new clients contact us for a quote on custom stage curtains, often they are unfamiliar with (and perhaps even a little overwhelmed by) the many decisions that need to be made to ensure that the stage curtains meet their specific needs.  Fabric, fullness, and top / bottom / side finishes are all factors to be considered.  I’ve posted previously on fabric and fullness, so today I thought I’d go over top finish options (I’ll cover side and bottom finishes in future posts).

There are a number of different top finishes, depending on how the curtain will be hung (and used).  For a drape that will be hung from a pipe or batten and is not intended to travel (i.e. will be stationery rather than moveable), the industry standard top finish is webbing, grommets and ties.  Heavy duty polypro webbing is sewn on the top back side of the drape.  The grommets (strong eyelets with washer backings) are then set mechanically through the face of the drape and the webbing, at the center of each pleat.  Grommets are generally set every 12″, but that may vary depending on the fullness of the drape.  A continuous 36″ length of heavy duty tieline is then doubled over and threaded through the grommet, leaving ample room to tie onto the pipe or batten.

When a stage curtain will be hung on a traveller track, to allow the curtain to open and close, one of the most common top finishes is webbing, grommets and S-hooks.  The webbing and grommets are set in the same manner as previously mentioned.  However, rather than utilitize ties, metal S-hooks are instead inserted through the grommets.  To hang the curtain, the top of each S-hook is threaded through the track carriers.  

Both of these top finishes are generally used when the top of the curtain will not be visible to the audience, generally because it will be hidden by the proscenium or by a valance or border.  In some cases, however, the top of the curtain will be visible to the audience, and therefore a hidden top finish is preferred.  With Hidden Flush Sewn Snaps, a self-closing snap is attached to the back of the webbing first.  The webbing is then sewn onto the top of the drape, leaving a clean appearance on the front of the drape.  The snaps are then attached to the track carriers to hang the drape.

Another hidden top finish, one which is quite durable, is hidden grommets and ties.  In this instance, a double set of grommets is inserted into the webbing.  The webbing is then sewn onto the top of the drape, and tie lines are threaded through the grommets.  Again, the front appearance of the top of the drape is unmarred.

Hidden sewn ties are a great way to not only give a finished appearance to the front of a drape, but also to hide the pipe or batten to which the drape is tied.  Strong cotton twill ties are sewn to the back of the webbing, which is then sewn to the drape.

There are a few more top finishes, primarily used for temporary installations.  For a border or teaser that will be stapled directly to a roof beam, a top finish of webbing only is used.  For drapes that will be threaded onto a pipe (most commonly used in exhibit booths), a pipe pocket open hem is typical.  This allows the user to create fullness from a flat drape, by making the drape wider than the pipe and then pushing the full width of the drape onto the pipe, thereby creating natural fullness.

I hope this post clarified top finish options a little bit.  If you’d like to see more photos and get more information, please visit the Top Finishes page on our website.

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Alice in Chains Video

You may remember that I posted last week about the Alice in Chains project.  Although I included linkes to several videos in that post, I just found out about another great video from their current tour, so I thought I’d post a brief update.  The video is a great compilation of scenes from the show.

And while I’m at it, here is another great photo!

Design: Mike Baldassari @ Mike-O-Matic Industries www.mike-o-matic.com;  Photo By: “Iron” Mike – SavoiaPhotography.com

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Staying connected with the Latitude-Z

I’ve mentioned before how lucky I have been throughout the years to see the world, often as a result of work-related projects. These days, in addition to traveling for work-related projects, I also find myself on the road to attend a variety of industry functions and speaking engagements (such as when we were recognized by Dell as a “Trailblazing” company).

As the business has grown, I have noticed one difference from my past travels, though – the need for me to stay constantly connected with the office and my clients even when I am halfway across the world. When I travel, I of course have my iPhone, but a notebook computer is now a necessity as well. With it and a wireless internet connection, I can log onto my office desktop computer (via our company network) and do just about everything I would do on a regular day at work – prepare customer quotations and orders, access documents on my office desktop or even on our company network, and so much more – almost as if I was sitting in my office at work rather than in a hotel room 100s or 1,000s of miles away.

My relationship with Dell Computers has been a huge help in this area. Recently they suggested that I try their newest notebook computer, the Latitude-Z, and I am so glad they did – it really is an incredible machine.

When I unpacked all the boxes for the Latitude-Z Package, I was impressed before I even booted up the computer. First, let me say how well it was packaged for shipping. The components were shipped via Fed Ex in several cartons – laptop itself in one box, other components in additional boxes.

Dell really does a good job in packaging the components to ensure that they arrive in good condition, using inner boxes, molded foam, and molded cardboard pieces. Nothing is going to slide around or get damaged in shipping – no way! But on the other hand, it also didn’t seem like there was a bunch of extra unnecessary packaging – just enough to keep everything safe and organized.

But it was my first look at the computer that really threw me for a loop. It is gorgeous – sleek and modern and oh so thin! Pictures really don’t do it justice. The first thing I noticed was the color. It is a beautiful Black Cherry (burgundy/black) color. The next thing to hit me was the size – it is amazingly thin and so lightweight! My previous laptop was about the same size (in terms of screen size, I mean), but it is so much heavier and bulkier. What a difference with the Latitude-Z. But even though it is thin and lightweight, it is still a good working size, at about 15″ x 9 ½”, with a 16″ diagonal screen.

I decided to spend my first excursion on the Latitude-Z exploring all that it had to offer. And it really does have some fun bells and whistles. The first thing I noticed was how great the wireless inductive charging stand is. I have never used charging pads or anything of that nature, so this was new to me. I plugged in the charging stand and set the Latitude-Z on top. The computer fit perfectly on the stand – no need for trial and error to get it in the right position. I booted up the computer, and almost instantly I saw that the computer was charging. It was time to start exploring.

I decided to check out the high definition display by pulling in some photos from the company digital file storage. The photo display was incredible – light years away from my previous laptop. I couldn’t believe the detail in the photographs – just amazing. I then opened a video – even more incredible. The detail is at least as good as (maybe even better than) my HD television. Wow! The sound is also great.

This really is a great notebook, and I am looking forward to putting it through some trials, including my first foray into travelling with it. I’ll keep you posted.

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2010 Pollstar Awards

On Wednesday, February 17, the 21st Annual Pollstar Awards were held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live.  If you aren’t familiar with Pollstar, it is a leading trade publication for the concert industry, publishing both in print and online (I use their website almost daily - it is a great resource for information on music tours / concerts). 

Each year, Pollstar invites a group of industry professionals to provide nominations in a number of award categories, including venues, production, promotion, staging, lighting, and much more.  Once the nominations are finalized, Pollstar subscribers are invited to vote online, and the winners are announced at the ceremony.

This year, our sister company, Rent What?, was honored to be selected as the provider of rental draperies to the event.  Selected as the main drapes for the ceremony were the Moulin Rouge drapes that I have posted about before (part of Rent What’s “Timeless and Traditional” series).  These gorgeous crimson and gold pieces really are dramatic, aren’t they? 

Rent What? Inc. also provided all of the black masking drapes used for the event.  Although masking drapes are most known for onstage masking, they also are quite effective for masking sections of the seating area in larger spaces.  By masking off sections of seating, the space was transformed into an intimate setting that was especially fitting for this event.

I think the rental drapes provided a fittingly opulent and intimate setting for the presentation of these prestigious awards.  Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!

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Alice in Chains Project

In late January, we worked on an interesting project for the 2010 tour of Alice in Chains.  The primary pieces that we made were a series of Single and Double Kabukis. 

The Double Kabuki, at 25′ h x 45′ w, was made out of Silver Poly Silk, and then the 5 Upstage Single Kabukis (all at 22′ h and ranging in width from 10′ w to 44′ w) were of a silver textured satin.  We also made a number of pieces for the stage (drum riser, amp panels and floor light coverlets) out of Black 16oz Commando Cloth lined with Aluminum Mesh, as well as some black masking drapes. 

Design: Mike Baldassari @ Mike-O-Matic Industries www.mike-o-matic.com;  Photo By: “Iron” Mike – SavoiaPhotography.com

Rent What? also provided some pieces, including a Classic Theatre Header (Red) from their Timeless and Traditional Series, along with a number of Borders in Black 15oz Encore, and furnished the 44 piece Solenoid System with controllers (used with the Kabuki Drapes).  Check out the Classic Theatre Header in this photo:

Design: Mike Baldassari @ Mike-O-Matic Industries www.mike-o-matic.com;  Photo By: “Iron” Mike – SavoiaPhotography.com

We were all really proud of how the pieces turned out, but you never know how the client will react.  Well, I am happy to report that the client loved them!  Yesterday, Megan received a thank you letter from Mike Baldassari, Production Designer for Alice in Chains, and it is such a great letter that I have to share a little bit of it: 

Dear Megan,

I’m writing to again say thank you for all of your help, hard work, expertise and most especially your “do whatever it takes” attitude in support of Alice in Chains’ current tour…. I was also impressed with the quality, workmanship and organization of the delivery of the goods that Sew What built.  You have my sincere gratitude for a job very well done, and I look forward to working with you and Sew What on other projects as well in the near future.

Best Regards,

Mike Baldassari

It is so rewarding to get such positive feedback from our clients, and to be able to share it with our employees, especially those who worked so hard on this project.

By the way, if you’d like to see Alice in Chains in action, with some of our drapery providing the backdrop, I found several videos on YouTube.  I think this one highlights (yet again) how perfect silver / gray fabric is for projection, whereas this one shows the drapery in its actual silver color at the start of the video and then shows how it can become almost any color with the proper lighting (you can also see some of the mesh pieces on stage in this video).

Note: Want to see a Kabuki Drape in action?  Check out this video.

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Check out our bags

Recently, a customer sent us a photo of our Sew What? Drapery Bags.  He snapped the pic last week during set up for a major U.S. sporting event.  Wow – take a look at this pile of bags – that is a lot of drapery!

I’ve shown you the Sew What? drapery bags in Qatar, and even as luggage on an airport carousel in Germany, but this pile of bags is the biggest yet! 

We used to pack our custom stage curtains and other soft goods in plain clear vinyl bags, but we found that, while the drapes were protected in transport, the vinyl bags weren’t very practical from a customer’s perspective.  The tops were just tied shut, so there was no easy way to carry them, and they didn’t work well for storing drapery (due to humidity issues). 

So, a few years ago, we did some research and ended up deciding to have these bags made.  They are a durable non-woven polyester (so they “breathe”), which works well for storage, and the drawstring top with locking clip makes the bags easy to pick up.  We pack our drapes in these bags (complimentary), and our customers find them really helpful for transporting and storing the drapes.  They certainly are popular, as the photos prove!

(FYI, we also offer them on their own for sale.)

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Electronic Samples??

Do you need to touch a textile in order to fully appreciate it?  Or is there a way to photograph it or shoot video of it in order to show off the properties of the cloth?

In this super-digital “I wanted it yesterday” microwave kind of world, it comes as no surprise that many of our clients don’t have time to approve samples – there is just no time to wait for samples to come in, be mailed or Fed Exed.  The projects ships next week – or worse yet, tomorrow!

And even when there is (a little) time to send out samples, think about what they may be costing us – all of us – in terms of the environment.  Let’s take a single sample pack with 4 different fabric swatches inside as an example.  As a Just-In-Time provider and a non-stocking manufacturer, putting together just one sample kit for a customer goes something like this:

• Call the fabric mill / supplier and check availability of fabrics in question
• Order a yard of each fabric from the mill / supplier to be sent to our location via Fed Ex Overnight for labeling
• Dispatch the sample kit to the client via Fed Ex Overnight

At this point, there is not even an order yet!  And at least two Fed Ex packets have been sent.  If the fabrics came from multiple mills / suppliers, or if the customer required multiple sets of the sample kit to be sent (perhaps 1 to the set designer and another to the lighting designer), there could have been 4 or 6 or 8 Fed Ex packets sent for this one project alone.  And if none of the fabrics work out, or if the design changes, the whole process may start again.

It is not about the financial cost – which could be as little as eight dollars or as much as $150.  It is about the cost to the environment to send all of these Fed Ex packets flying throughout the country (and even worldwide).  The gas, the emissions, the traffic conjestion.  Last week we sent out 7 sample kits via Fed Ex Overnight – and that’s just what went out from here – it doesn’t count incoming Fed Ex packages with samples from our suppliers.

So – perhaps the answer is to have a video archive of all commonly used fabrics – showing them in a controlled environment, subjected to the same lighting and motion.  While it would not combat the fact that the color you see on a video is probably not true to the fabric, it would give a designer a better idea of what the cloth is going to do and how it will react to lighting.  If I were a marketing student, or perhaps studying textiles, I think this would be a fascinating project to tackle.

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Upstage..Downstage…Where am I?

You hear terms like “upstage” and “stage right,” but if you are a novice to the theatre, you may not understand exactly where those locations are on the stage.  Well, here is a brief primer on stage location terms.

Areas of the stage are based on if you are facing the audience.  So, if you are an actor, standing in the center of the stage facing the audience, stage right would be on your right  (the audience’s left).  Downstage would be in front of you, Upstage would be behind you.  Still confused?  Take a look at this diagram.

So, Stage Right and Stage Left make sense.  But why Upstage and Downstage?  The terminology comes from the days in which the audience seats were on a flat floor and the stage was tilted (razed) toward the audience, so that everyone on the audience floor could see the performance.  So, the area of the stage closest to the audience was the lowest part of the stage (hence, “downstage”), and the stage floor gradually angled upward toward the back wall of the stage, to the highest part of the stage (“upstage”).  Today, of course, the audience floor is angled and the stage floor is flat, but the terms “downstage” and “upstage” remain.

Hope this clarifies things a little for you! 

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Wondering about fullness?

When a customer calls us to request a quote on a custom stage curtain, there is certain information that we need in order to provide that quote – size, fabric, finishes and fullness.  Today, I thought I’d give you a little information about fullness.

The term “fullness” is used in relation to the amount of pleating in a curtain, and is typically described with a percentage.  A flat (unpleated) curtain is said to have zero fullness.  A pleated curtain would typically have anywhere from 50% fullness up to 200% fullness.

The fullness percentage refers to the amount of additional width of the drape in its flat condition, prior to pleating the curtain down to its finished width.  A curtain with 50% fullness will initially be sewn flat at 50% wider than the desired finished width, a curtain with 100% fullness will start out as an unpleated curtain that is 100% wider, and so on.  The extra fabric on the width is used to make the pleats.

Let’s say that you want a box-pleated drape, 20 feet wide, with 50% fullness.  Our sewing staff would start by sewing together widths of fabric until they have a flat drape that is 30 feet wide.  They would then pin the fabric to create the pleats. The top finish is then sewn and, with it, the pleats are also sewn in, and the finished width of the drape ends up at the desired 20 feet.

The percentage of fullness determines the size of the pleats.  With 50% fullness, the pleat is usually about 3″ wide.  With 100% fullness, the pleat is usually about 6″ wide.  In both cases, there is typically 12″ from the center of each pleat to the center of the next pleat.

The amount of fullness that is recommended depends on several factors, including budget, fabric type, and desired appearance.  Budget is a consideration because the lower the pleating percentage, the less fabric that is used on the drape, and therefore the lower the cost of the drape.  Fabric type and appearance also affect the choice in fullness.  Traditional theatre curtains made from velour are typically made with anywhere from 50% to 100% fullness, whereas specialty drapes made from voile (or similar lightweight fabrics) are usually made with between 100% and 200% fullness.

Want to find out more about fullness?  Check out the Pleating and Fullness page of our website, where we have photos and drawings for you to review.

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Focus On: Voile

Have you ever wondered what “voile” is?  I am sure you have seen this fabric many time, but you may not have known that you were looking at voile.

Voile is a fine plain weave (no nap) lightweight sheer fabric, similar to organza.  It is used for both apparel (typically women’s blouses and dresses) and drapery.  The name “voile” is a French word meaning “veil,” and so the name describes the appearance of the fabric – sheer and filmy like a bridal veil.  Voile may be made from a variety of fibers, including silk, cotton, rayon and polyester.

Drapery voile is typically made from polyester fibers, including Trevira ®, Avora ® and other polyesters.  It is a wide fabric, typically measuring 118″ wide.  Often, residential window sheers and canopy bed draping are made from voile, but voile is also used in professional applications. 

One professional application of voile is as custom stage curtains in music tours, selected by production designers for its beautiful romantic feel (especially when pleated) and the way it lights so beautifully.  As a matter of fact, we made voile drapes for the Rod Stewart Tour, and they were gorgeous – with the colored lighting, it is hard to believe that these drapes are actually white.  Surprisingly enough, it can also be used as a projection surfac, such as in the Beyonce tour, or even as a Twinkle-Light Drape.

Due to its terrific draping qualities, voile is frequently used by event planners to line and drapes tents and otherwise decorate venues, especially for weddings.  We have also seen it used for exhibit booths – a few years ago, we provided voile drapery to Heaven Hill Distilleries, for use in their exhibit booths in a major trade show event. 

Voile comes in a wide variety of colors, though we find that shades of white are the most requested, as the fabric lights so well.  Voile can also be digitally printed, and is particularly effective with an ethereal image such as shown in the Luna Guitars booth.

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