A weblog about theatrical drapery and stage curtains for Production Managers, Set Designers, Custom Drapery Resellers, and local/school/church Productions
As the clock ticks closer and closer to 2011, I thought I’d reflect a little on some of the projects that we have worked on this year. I’d love to post a little bit about all of the projects that we worked on in 2010, but for that I would need to publish a book! So, instead I’ll just remind you of a few particularly memorable projects.
We printed and sewed so many amazing digitally printed backdrops this year. A few that come to mind include several gorgeous panels for Brooks & Dunn‘s “Last Rodeo” farewell tour (I love the cowgirl images!), the “Distressed Fleur de Lis” pattern for Little Big Town, Billy Idol in black and white, and, of course, the beautiful backdrop for Kenny Chesney (third year running). All beautiful, all unique!
Of course, all of the drapery that we make is custom-made according to the client’s specifications, so all projects are interesting and unique. But some projects really stand out. The Silver Scrim for Yusuf Islam was so beautiful and quite unusual. The Alice in Chains project was so cool that I posted about it twice, and of course the drapery in sheers and silvers for Celtic Woman set the perfect ethereal backdrop to their music.
These are the projects in which we really “think outside the box,” using materials and/or techniques that are just a little bit different from the usual drapery style. I loved the Metal Mesh frame pieces that we made for James Taylor and the Korn backdrop was an amazing combination of netting, digital printing, and smoke tubes. And just a few weeks ago – who could forget the American Parachute that we made for Katy Perry?
All of these terrific projects are just a small fraction of the projects we worked on in 2010. I can’t wait to see what projects come our way in 2011!
Recently, Rent What? and Sew What? were excited to work with Daunte Kenner of DK Show Production & Design to help him bring his set design to life for Mary J. Blige’s U.S. tour.
In prior posts, I have mentioned the Starlight LED backdrops. One of the great things about the Starlight LED drapes that Rent What? offers for rental is that they are available in two sizes (15′ x 30′ and 20′ x 20′), but they can be run horizontally or vertically and can be combined to make a much larger backdrop. That was the case in Daunte’s design for the Mary J. Blige tour – a number of Starlight LED drapes were combined to make up nearly 5,000 square feet of “starry, starry night”, covering the entire rear of the stage as well as both sides.
Daunte also selected from Rent What? a gorgeous 30′ h x 60′ w Silver Satin Austrian Drape for use as an Act Curtain. Sew What? got into the act by manufacturing a custom “City Skyline” digitally printed scenic backdrop along with additional custom stage drapes.
It really was a fun project to work on, and it is exciting to hear that many of these same pieces with be a part of Mary J. Blige’s upcoming international tour dates in 2011!
Want to learn more about this project? Click here.
Each year, Sew What? and Rent What? have a joint holiday luncheon and party for all of the staff. It is always a lot of fun – we have a catered traditional holiday meal (turkey, ham, and all the trimmings), silly games (with prizes), and a DJ for dancing and general merriment. It’s a great time for all of the staff – office and shop combined – to spend together.
It’s always great to share a meal together for the holidays.
This year, we added an “Ugly Holiday Sweater” contest – it was so much fun to see all the crazy sweaters that people came up with.
Rick stretched the “Ugly Sweater” concept a little, but his Christmas Tree Costume (complete with working lights) was incredible!
After the meal and a few fun party games (limbo, anyone?), everyone hits the dance floor to work off some of those holiday calories.
Line dancing is always fun!
Hope you enjoyed the photos and videos. From all of us here at Sew What?, we wish you a joyous holiday season!
You may recall that last December, I posted on the 2009 Sew What? Tee Shirt. Each year we create a limited edition tee shirt for staff and customers. In 2009, it was a really cool “Rock-n-Roll / Metal” design by John Rios of GrafixJam.
Well, John did not rest on his laurels – this year he created two awesome designs for us!
The first design was again a cool Rock-n-Roll / Metal design, with the “Drape Monster” design on the front and the back design distinguished by two wings surrounding a stylized version of our iconic question mark. Pretty cool, don’t you think?
This year, we added a second design to the mix. It is our cool female “Superhero” design (also courtesy of John Rios). We also used this design on mousepads and coffee mugs.
I just love this design – it is so quirky and fun. Great job once again, John!
Last month, we worked on a really interesting project, and I just had to share (especially after seeing the gorgeous photos and videos). I love all of the custom stage curtains, digitally printed backdrops, and other specialty soft goods that we make, but it is particularly fascinating for me when we do projects that are more unique.
Katy Perry was scheduled to appear on VH1′s “Salute The Troops” special on December 5th, and she wanted to appear on stage in a very dramatic way – by parachute!
Naturally, she couldn’t really parachute on stage, but it certainly appeared as if she did, in a very patriotic way, and I am proud to say that Sew What? played a part in making it happen.
The parachute structure began as two custom steel frames, which fit together to mimic the shape of an open parachute. The frames were then delivered to us, and our sewing shop got busy with red, white and blue stretch fabric. It was a little tricky, as it was important to carefully match each stripe to the contours of the frames. The end result? An American Flag “Parachute.”
I thought it looked amazing in our sewing shop, but I was floored to see how spectacular it looked in use. With the parachute suspended from above by unobstrusive cables, and Katy Perry hanging from the “parachute” by more noticeable white cables, it really did appear as if she was parachuting down onto the stage. Very dramatic, don’t you think?
There are many great non-profit organizations today, raising money for everything from saving endangered species to curing cancer. But I learned about one recently that really struck a chord (as it were). As you know, Sew What? Inc. provides custom stage curtains, digitally printedtheatrical backdrops, and a variety of other soft goods to the tours of major performing artists. Well, the organization that I have learned about is, perhaps, contributing toward the future of the American music industry.
The organization is called the Fender Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free and low cost music education to children ages 7 through 17. Located in the city of Corona, in Southern California, the Fender Center includes a music education wing, a music and arts museum, gift shop, and both indoor and outdoor performing spaces.
A number of big-name artists and industry professionals are associated with the Fender Center, including Steve Miller, Paul Rodgers, and Joe Walsh, as well as Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.
With drastic cuts to music and arts education taking place in public schools throughout the country, this really is a terrific program – I hope that communities throughout the country (throughout the world even) take inspiration from the Fender Center and start similar programs.
I don’t know if you caught the “Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show” when it aired on CBS last week, but if you did, you saw the “Crimson Cabaret” drapes in action. I must say that the drapes looked fabulous! They evoke such a romantic, exotic, luxurious mood that is just perfect as the backdrops for beautiful models in fanciful lingerie.
If you didn’t catch the show (or if you did, but want to take another look at the drapes behind the models), the entire show is available for viewing on the CBS website – just click here.
By the way, the drapes can be seen best at .45 – .52 seconds as the show opens and at 7.00 – 7.35 for the beginning of Katy Perry’s performance.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, in my post about videos, that Megan had recently come upon a video that she received from a client back in 2009 for a Sonic Youth project we had worked on. Well, I thought I’d tell you more about it (and show you the video, as promised).
While we are primarily of manufacturer of custom stage drapes, we don’t limit ourselves to standard theatrical drapery. Often, we are asked by clients, particularly those in the music touring industry, to ”think outside the (drapery) box” to make something a little different (though still fabric based). This was one of those projects.
We were asked by Dan Hadley to make Custom Light Pod skins to fit over frames. The primary fabric used was Flame Retardant Natural Heavy Weight Muslin with Blackout Lining (also known as Passfoam) used on the inside (except for the back). Then, using client providing renderings, we cut out a different design from the front of each pod and inserted natural scrim into the cutout. Lastly, the client contracted with an artist to scenically paint the pods.
This really was a clever design. By lining the front and sides with Blackout Lining, but then cutting out the designs and inserting the scrim, a variety of lighting techniques could be utilized to emphasize the design and even trick the eye into thinking that the design is moving.
Not quite sure what I mean? Check out the video of Sonic Youth that Dan sent Megan:
