Digital Design for Custom Textiles: Patterns as Narration for Stage and Film 1351380478, 9781351380478

Table of contents :
Cover
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Getting Started
Chapter 3: Elements and Principles of Design
Chapter 4: Textile Production
Chapter 5: Technically Speaking: Digital Basics
Chapter 6: Surface Work: Styles of Prints and Repeats
Chapter 7: Render the Pattern: Creating Your Own Digital Textile Print
Chapter 8: All in the Trimming: Digital Appliqué and Embroidery
Chapter 9: Making Piece with It: Print, Cut, Sew
Chapter 10: Final Dress: Tips and Tricks for a Smooth Process
Glossary
Resources
Index

Citation preview

Digital Design for Custom Textiles Digital Design for Custom Textiles: Patterns as Narration for Stage and Film is a beginner’s guide for creating custom textile patterns for performing arts production, with an emphasis on storytelling through design using hand and digital design techniques. The book offers ­essential information for the beginning digital designer, such as: • methods of designing patterns, appliqués, and unique textures for custom textiles; • custom textile examples including various styles of pattern repeats, digital embroidery, and cut and sew textiles; • full-color, step-by-step instructions and practice exercises; • production timelines; • a textiles and patterns glossary. Digital Design for Custom Textiles will allow students and design professionals to embrace digital media to enhance their work, apply digital alternatives to find the perfect fabrics and embellishments, and create more meaningful and personalized designs for the stage. Amber Marisa Cook is a costume and scenic designer whose work has appeared in regional and academic theatres across the United States, including Off Broadway. Currently Assistant Professor of Costume Design for the Conservatory at Southeast Missouri State University, Amber is a proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 and an alumna of the U ­ niversity of Michigan-Flint and Michigan State University. To find out more about Amber’s work, please visit www.ambermcookdesign.com.

Digital Design for Custom Textiles Patterns as Narration for Stage and Film

Amber Marisa Cook

First published 2019 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 Taylor & Francis The right of Amber Marisa Cook to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in ­accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any e­ lectronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and ­recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the ­publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Cook, Amber Marisa, author. Title: Digital design for custom textiles : patterns as narration for stage and film / Amber   Marisa Cook. Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018030867 (print) | LCCN 2018037530 (ebook) | ISBN 9781351380492   (Adobe Reader) | ISBN 9781351380485 (ePub3) | ISBN 9781351380478 (Mobipocket   Unencrypted) | ISBN 9781138084162 (hbk : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781138084179   (pbk : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781315146188 (ebk) Subjects: LCSH: Textile design—Technological innovations. Classification: LCC TS1475 (ebook) | LCC TS1475 .C66 2019 (print) | DDC 677/.022—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018030867 ISBN: 978-1-138-08416-2 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-08417-9 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-14618-8 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman and Helvetica by Apex CoVantage, LLC

To my grandmother, Barbara Gifford, who once said she wished she’d known “all of the possibilities.”

Contents Acknowledgmentsix

Chapter 1:  Introduction1 Chapter 2:  Getting Started

9

Chapter 3:  Elements and Principles of Design

25

Chapter 4:  Textile Production

31

Chapter 5:  Technically Speaking: Digital Basics

41

Chapter 6:  Surface Work: Styles of Prints and Repeats

51

Chapter 7: Render the Pattern: Creating Your Own Digital Textile Print

67

Chapter 8: All in the Trimming: Digital Appliqué and Embroidery87 Chapter 9:  Making Piece with It: Print, Cut, Sew

101

Chapter 10: Final Dress: Tips and Tricks for a Smooth ­ Process121 Glossary131 Resources139 Index 

143

Acknowledgments For their visual and written contributions to this publication: Colleen ­Muscha, Travis Halsey, Charlene Gross, Cherie Stoddard Acosta, Roberto Andrade, Hannah Griffin, Jessica Hansen, Whitney Locher, Jenn Morris, Brianna Plummer, Austin Rausch, Victoria Inez Rivera, Bart Williams, Wendi Zea. For their professional support: Karen Kangas-Preston, Deana Luetkenhaus, Jeromy Hopgood, and Christopher George Haug.

C H A P T E R

1

Introduction

C h a p t e r c o v e r 1   Various digital costume sketches by Amber Marisa Cook.

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WHY THIS BOOK? Nationwide, society’s reliance on the internet and e-commerce for everything from clothing to groceries has led to a trend of closing of big-box stores and the fabric industry is not immune to this trend. With the loss of megachain Hancock Fabrics and the shifting of focus from garment-related fields to crafting and home-decorating products in existing big-box stores, it is ­becoming increasingly difficult to find appropriate fabric and yardage for costume and scenic design. Even big cities where numerous independent fabric suppliers could be counted on for goods are being affected. In New York, brick and mortar fabric stores continue to decrease due to inflated rent prices and inability to meet the rising costs of maintaining a shop, and the push for more housing in Manhattan may see the eventual end of New York’s historical Garment District as we know it. The power of global e-commerce has fostered a number of online fabric stores as well but they have many challenges, including time sensitivity in terms of order processing and shipping, accurate product description, and availability of product. For many costume, scenic, and props designers, online shopping has become the only option for shopping without extensive travel or hiring a shopper/­swatcher, a luxury generally not afforded to most academic and professional institutions without large budgets. Additionally, when sourcing fabric for ­period shows and designs, whether for garments or upholstery, there is an added layer of challenge in terms of condition of the fabric or garment as well as affordability if vintage is an available option, or alternatively finding a newly produced accurate or period appropriate print in a desirable fiber content (polyester vs. wool or cotton). This book aims to bridge the gap by focusing on empowering designers to use production specific research to design their own prints (patterns) and use custom fabrics for a more powerful and specific stage presence. In the digital age, creating custom patterns for fabric provides a creative alternative for ­designs that support theme, character, and time period. Custom design allows the designer and director to get exactly what they want without compromising or settling for “close enough.” By creating custom fabric prints, the themes, concepts, location, and eras are portrayed in a much more customized manner that can cater to the demands of a particular production while blending traditional styles with new technologies. Custom printed fabric is also an excellent

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way to generate high-concept design pieces because it allows for direct continuation of pattern/design through adjustment for darts, seam allowances, etc.

NEW TRICKS The entertainment industry has long forged new innovations in technology to meet the demands of the production. While we as practitioners expect cuttingedge technology in the realms of sound, lighting, media design, automation, and even properties design, it seems the area of costume design and all that is sewing/textile related has been slower to embrace new technologies as a part of common practice, rather than as an occasional novelty. Because of the constant demand of time versus budget versus labor, it is often easier to rest on one’s laurels when it comes to design by settling for fabric in stock to construct a costume or reupholster a piece of furniture; because we appreciate the convenience of “it exists” we will settle for “close enough.” The idea of learning a new software program or working digitally is understandably unappealing to some whose work is generally tactile and three dimensional in its traditional state. Necessity is usually what drives us to try something new, something different, and this book aims to empower the often overworked designer, whether in academia or in the professional realm, to try something new and expand their horizons, with the hopes that the benefits of embracing digital textile design become a new way of working that emboldens design and reignites the imagination to do what we do best—tell a story.

BASIC DESIGN AND COLLABORATIVE PROCESS TIMELINES FOR A PRODUCTION When contemplating adding new technology or a new process to your design arsenal, it is important to think about the “where” and “when” in relation to the whole of the production schedule. The basic structure of a production timeline can vary, depending on the design position you are in, the scale of production both in terms of budget and in terms of theatre size, the size of the production team and technical support staff, and the actual production timeline laid out by the producers or artistic staff. The timeline presented below assumes regular design and production meetings with all design team

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members and the director present. It is important to anticipate any potential delays or hold-ups in your process so that you are not hindered by a lastminute construction process. Extra planning and organization ensures that your final design is not only a memorable one, but a positive experience.   1. Meet with the director and or design team and hear a general statement about concept and themes to be presented in the story being told.   2. Begin preliminary research; this may be ephemeral or time period ­specific.   3. Costumes: Begin specific character and time period research, compose mood boards or character research plates. Properties/Scenic: Begin specific location time period research, compose mood boards, furniture collections, etc.   4. Rough sketches of costumes/groundplans/props renderings.   5. Color research and conversations about palette.   6. Fabric swatching and sourcing; pulling stock items to use or repurpose.   7. Color renderings; customized fabric design where needed.   8. Order/print fabric swatches; obtain estimated yardage for item if possible to determine cost.   9. Begin build processes, mockups, fittings. 10. Order/print final fabrics. 11. Final fittings on garments, pulled items, etc. that do not require custom textiles. 12. Build process of final garments; final fittings on custom fabric items. This timeline supposes that a small to medium size portion of the project requires specialty/custom fabric, rather than a complete build process, which would require a considerably longer design time in order to accommodate volume, turnaround time, and perhaps most importantly garment production. When you are proposing to utilize your own fabric designs, depending on who your creative team consists of, you may find varying degrees of enthusiasm, anticipation, skepticism, or indifference. It is important to be an

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effective communicator in any production process, but because of the extra time that will inherently be spent as a part of designing your own textiles, excellent communication becomes imperative. Spending extra time to have fabric you’ve designed custom printed, only to find out that a drastic shift in concept or color palette renders the fabric unusable, is a pitfall that should be avoided at all costs since your personal investment in the design process is likely much more than if you were simply to purchase ready-made fabric from a store or the internet. Designers should of course feel free to stretch their creative wings, but not at the expense of successful collaboration or cohesive storytelling. Bringing your fully fleshed-out concepts to the table as a part of a solution to solving a particular production challenge, or in order to enhance storytelling, will always rightfully be received in a more enthusiastic manner than creating art for the sake of art.

Designer Profile: Jenn Morris, Costume Designer Tuck Everlasting, Salina Theatre, 2018

F i g u r e 1 . 1  Jenn Morris excitedly awaits ­custom designed fabric being printed on the plotter.

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F i g u r e 1 . 2  The ensemble of Tuck Everlasting in dresses made from custom printed ­textiles.

F i g u r e 1 . 3   Back detail of dress from Tuck Everlasting.

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What was the rationale for choosing to purchase your own equipment and digitally design vs. a more traditional route such as painting and dyeing or simply buying a fabric “as is”? “For us, the decision came because we are a theatre in a small Midwest town with only one fabric store. Many times, it is difficult to source fabric online and the time commitment it takes to do so is wasteful. Dyeing fabric is sometimes unpredictable and also time-consuming. I’m a one-person shop, so for me, the rationale is as simple as time management. We had purchased the plotter with the intent of using it for marketing media, scenic design elements, and costume, and so far it’s been wonderful for all three. We were really lucky because the lyricist Nathan Tysen is from our city and grew up doing shows at our theatre, so he did lots of workshops for us. We found out that the ensemble song that has the lyrics “day nah nah” actually stands for “day/night” ... So when I designed the fabric, I wanted to convey a sort of light to dark look to symbolize that ... the show is full of symbolism, so this was just one way to show that along with a “water” look, which is obviously a huge part of the story.”

C H A P T E R

2

Getting Started

C h a p t e r c o v e r 2   Count Dracula’s cape (textile and costume design by Amber Marisa Cook, 2017).

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WRITING A CONCEPT STATEMENT THAT SUPPORTS YOUR VISION Early in your design process, you’ve likely met with a director and design team and received the director’s initial thoughts or concept for a particular show. A director’s vision may be broad and general or hyper-specific, but helping to narrow down and focus in on specific aspects of why the story is important or what the message to be conveyed is will be helpful in your process. It is likely that shortly before or once you’ve had initial conversations and perhaps gotten an overarching theme from your director, you will begin the research process. Whether you make a mood board, character collages, or a Pinterest page, keeping a good paper and digital source archive is important, especially if you anticipate creating custom textiles, as you never know when a research image will become the inspiration or even the basis for the textile itself. In the world of theatrical design, a solid concept statement is key to concisely summarizing how your vision relates to the world of the play and the story the production team is telling. A concept statement should be no more than 250–300 words and should not summarize the play, but rather indicate which motifs, themes, or arguments a production is highlighting and how the design directly enhances or reinforces these ideas. Specificity is key to supporting your design narrative and will make for a stronger proposal as well as end product. Avoiding generalizations is best. For example, a weak statement about color choice might be: Juliet will be in pale pink because she is a teenage girl and pink is a feminine color. This assumes that everyone will be onboard with the idea of youth or childhood being represented and it also assumes that everyone will associate the color pink in the vague manner described. A stronger statement that better conveys a theme would be: Juliet’s ­color palette will include soft pinks and floral patterns to hint at spring, new love blooming, and Juliet blossoming into womanhood. This statement very ­directly indicates three strong ideas that may relate to a production concept for Romeo and Juliet and more solidly supports the choice of color while also indicating pattern or visual texture that may be incorporated.

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It is also important to be able to be specific and justify your design choices as they relate to the concept and text of the show because it will help guide and reinforce creative decisions during the build of the show. The audience, however, will likely not and should not be expected to consciously catch and carry through every visual metaphor they are presented with depending on the size and scope of the production. The first and foremost goal should still remain to serve the world of the play/film/opera/dance and the style of storytelling being used.

USING PERIOD SPECIFIC AS WELL AS EPHEMERAL RESEARCH EFFECTIVELY TO SUPPORT CHARACTER The reasons you arrive at the decision to design your own textile, and why you may opt to choose the digital route rather than a traditional craft method, may be one of many. Reasons to opt for your own design include needing a seasonal fabric at the wrong time of year, lack of yardage for a specific textile, replicating an existing print that is vintage or no longer available to buy, remounting an existing design, recreating high-cost fabric at a budget friendly price, or simply wanting to make a unique statement. At the offset, the idea of tackling an even more hands-on and specific process that can mean putting faith in a digital printing service on top of all of the other time and monetary restraints can actually feel like an additional unwanted burden, but it may be an option that once you grow comfortable over time with using can alleviate many additional headaches in trying to track down “the perfect fabric, trim, etc.” Conversely, some will find the ability to design with less constraint, at least in terms of textiles, to be a freeing one that stretches artistry and storytelling to a new level.

GETTING STARTED: KEY QUESTIONS When you embark on a digital textile design, having fewer limitations can actually make it more difficult to begin, so it is helpful to answer this set of questions for yourself so that you can start down a clear path, in terms of both technical needs as well as design parameters.

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1. What are the primary and secondary reasons that designing and printing my own textile is the best option? Keeping these in mind will always draw you back to your original goal or intent and may help to clarify questions further into your process. 2. How does digital textile design reinforce my concept statement? Serving the needs of the production or staying true to the concept or theme is imperative in successful digital textile design by avoiding art for art’s sake and perhaps providing depth and sophistication to a piece. It is also possible that designing and printing your own textile will save time-consuming processes such as block printing, dyeing, or hours of appliqué work you might otherwise utilize.

Director and Designer Collaboration: Director Bart Williams and Costume Designer Amber Marisa Cook A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Conservatory of Theatre and Dance at ­­Southeast Missouri State University, 2017

F i g u r e 2 . 1   Karl Hawkins as “Puck,” ­photography by Kenneth L. Stilson.

F i g u r e 2 . 2   Vest back detail, construction by Xurui Wang.

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Director Bart Williams’ concept for A Midsummer Night’s Dream was to set the show in the Storyville district of New Orleans in the 1910s– 1920s: “At its time, Storyville was the Las Vegas of the US, and because so much of the script is about mixing different social groups, I thought having a setting that was known for social mixing would be ideal. Puck was the biggest challenge, as I wanted him to be a literal part of the old city, and r­eflect its changes from French to Spanish colonialism. Amber had the great idea to base Puck on the ironwork of the French Quarter, the statues and the ­pavement—so that he could weave in and out of scenes, and almost be a part of the set. This was the perfect tie between the Edwardian-to-flapper influence for the Greek nobles, and the mechanicals which were the laborers from the docks southeast of the French Quarter.” 3. What is my timeframe for fabric production vs. garment construction or production deadline? Time may be a luxury or at a premium, and this may affect the style you render your textile in, how much time you spend creating your textile design, as well as whether you have time to order proofs or samples versus “ordering blind.” 4. What type of fabric am I looking to produce/simulate? It is possible to emulate heavier types of fabrics and trims through a digital print method, with varying success rates. How close will your viewer be, and does a visual simulation work as well as finding the “real deal”? 5. What is the time period I am applying to this design? Does the company or my fabric stock have a similar weight/hand fabric appropriate to the era, location, time? What styles of pattern were popular during the time period of the intended garment/prop/piece of furniture?

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F i g u r e 2 . 3   Detail of starting image in jpeg form.

F i g u r e 2 . 4   A close-up of printed textile.

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F i g u r e 2 . 5   Finished garment using custom printed textile.

Designer Process: Victoria Inez Rivera, Costume Designer Measure for Measure, East Los Angeles College, directed by Ramon Ramos, April 2016 “I’ve been a longtime vintage fashion enthusiast and collector. I really ­appreciate when period pieces are portrayed with a careful attention to detail and accuracy. Our production was set in 1950s Cuba. I really wanted the designs to help tell the story and mood for the play and characters. I wanted a true 1950s mid-century feel with my designs. I felt the best way of achieving that would be to recreate original 1950s textile prints from photos. I could specifically reproduce and alter a unique pattern that I was unable to source in Los Angeles, as well as produce an unlimited amount of yardage needed for the costume builds.” According to Costume Design and Technology Professor Jessica Hansen, one of the challenges in printing for Victoria was color saturation; it

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was difficult to color match between the screen, the printed paper, and the final sublimated fabric. Victoria needed to use Adobe Illustrator to create the print because the image she sourced to create the backcloth fabric was a jpeg file, and she had no way to separate the colors or repeat the image. The challenge was to create that image without dulling down its charm in shape and texture. 6. What do I wish to say about the character/story through the textile? This idea may be intended for the viewer to see and “get” or may be subtle and subjective, an almost secret that only you are privy to, but clarifying intent for yourself is always a helpful step in the design process.

F i g u r e 2 . 6   Rendering of dancer for “Hidden Beauty” by Cherie Stoddard Acosta.

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F i g u r e 2 . 7   Microscopic photography of lymphoma, photography by Norm Baker.

F i g u r e 2 . 8   Microscopic photography of meningioma, photography by Norm Baker.

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F i g u r e 2 . 9   Fabric and dress detail from digitally designed textile, draping by Amie Rose ­McMillan.

Designer Process: Cherie Stoddard Acosta, Costume Designer Cherie Stoddard Acosta, Assistant Professor of Costume Design, and Travis Prokop, Assistant Professor of Dance, both from Lamar University, collaborated with authors Norman Barker and Christine Iacobuzio-Donahue from Johns Hopkins University in conjunction with their book Hidden Beauty: Exploring the Aesthetics of Medical Science (Schiffer Books 2013). Images of various diseases from the book have been printed onto fabrics, with permission from the author, and constructed into Greek-inspired gowns which were worn by three dancers in a piece performed at Lamar University in May 2017. The gowns were suspended from the stage at the beginning of the dance and released by a symbolic member of the medical profession to be placed on each dancer. A fourth skirt, 20 feet in diameter, was released at the culmination of the dance to fall and cover the dancers. Employing music and spoken word, both the designer and choreographer created a performance piece that transcends what it means to be ill and what

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it means to be human within the medical system. Of this work Cherie Stoddard Acosta says: “I was drawn to working with images such as these due to the inherent beauty I found within the images. Because I suffer from autoimmune diseases, it was fascinating to me that something so destructive within the human body could also, individually, be exquisitely beautiful. I felt that utilizing the Greek ideal of beauty (given the connotations of both the silhouette and the Grecian idealization of the human form) would contrast with the meaning subjugated by illness. I explore how the costumes themselves become the voice and ‘self’ that is placed upon the dancers both figuratively and physically throughout the work. This project expresses the beauty hidden within illness and evaluates the concept of suffering through art. Human suffering in the realm of art is not a novel concept. It has been depicted from the poetics of Aristotle to modern drama. Yet, we take a new approach in which the intersection of art and science revels in the physicality and inescapability of disease. The presentational quality of the piece expresses cellular disease as a powerful force, capable of touching anyone regardless of cultural identity and serves to connect us to our shared humanity. Through dance, the viewer not only identifies, but also in turn quantifies what is occurring within the human body and thereby the work resonates with all of those whose lives have been touched by malady.” 7. What is my budget, in terms of both time and money? Are there other projects that can be worked on while you are waiting or will one to two weeks delay your build to a detriment? Is designing your own textiles more cost effective from a monetary or time-saving standpoint? (It can be!) 8. What is the ultimate goal of the textile design? Garment/piece of ­furniture/prop/etc.? Production? This is an important question in ensuring that your time and money are spent effectively. It’s important to note that the end goal of the textile may play a huge and lovely component in the design of a space or character, or it may be small or inelegant, in relation to the whole of the production, but so long as you understand the size and scope of the project, you can tailor the design process to match.

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F i g u r e 2 . 1 0   “Hidden Beauty” in performance.

F i g u r e 2 . 1 1   “The Monster” as portrayed by Corie Williams, makeup by Katryna Preston.

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F i g u r e 2 . 1 2   Fabric detail of Dracula’s digitally designed cape lining.

F i g u r e 2 . 1 3   “Count Dracula” as portrayed by Ryan Adolph.

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F i g u r e 2 . 1 4   Fabric detail of Dracula’s digitally designed vest (back view).

Designer Process: Amber Marisa Cook, Costume Designer Dracula, directed by Kenneth L. Stilson, Conservatory of Theatre and Dance at Southeast Missouri State University, 2017 For the production, the goal was to find a way to connect Dracula with his inner Monster, a character that appears in the script that the audience may not initially recognize in this classic horror tale. It was important to see the actor playing Dracula in a relatively expected state of dress, and, by contrast,

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his inner demon the Monster as a horrifying mix of blood, death, bones, and animalistic qualities. To tie the two entities together, custom textiles were used for both Dracula’s vest and the lining of his Inverness cape. The lining of the cape’s mix of screaming red faces seeming to emerge from the cloth itself is an elegant riff on the Monster’s costume which features actual skulls and bones emerging from the doublet. Dracula’s vest is a print that articulates blood lines, arteries, and veins in a sophisticated manner while adhering to a period silhouette, playing on the Monster’s blood and oil streaming from the faces on his doublet.

EXERCISES 1. Using William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, write a concept statement that supports the themes of a) free will vs. fate, b) political ambition, and c) magical influence by justifying color choices for the main characters. 2. Assuming the play is set in Scotland, using the concept statement for ­support in design, research period appropriate patterns/prints for the lead characters setting the play in the years 1890, 1930, and 1950. What similarities do you see in terms of color, pattern, and texture? What are the significant ­differences? 3. Examine how changing the play’s location to the American South affects color, pattern, and texture for each time period. What similarities do you see? What are the significant differences? 4. Anticipating a costume design for the production, pick one era and location and determine what textiles might be beneficial to the production to design and digitally print, rather than simply purchasing. How do these textiles support your concept statement?

C H A P T E R

3

Elements and Principles of Design

C h a p t e r c o v e r 3  A skirt made from a digitally designed plaid textile, for Ragtime at Florida State University, 2015 (textile and costume design by Colleen Muscha).

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Though there are some varying ideas about what specifically makes up the elements and principles of design we may assert that, generally speaking, they are considered to be the rules by which we can describe the framework for a piece of art.

ELEMENTS OF DESIGN The elements of design refer to the visual aspect that we see in the design. For the purposes of textile creation, we can define these elements as line, shape, color, texture, space, and proportion. Below, each of these elements of design are applied specifically to textiles as they appear on the stage. Line: This may be the literal line or lines of the pattern on the fabric; also the visual path created by the textile on the body or on a surface such as a drapery or cushion. Fabrics with different fiber contents will create a different style of line on the body. Some fabrics that are stiffer will have a firmer or more rigid line whereas softer flowing fabrics will have a more organic or active line. Shape: The geometry of the pattern on the textile; also the overall silhouette that is created by the textile on the body or on a surface such as a drapery or cushion. The shape of the garment can also be greatly affected by fiber content and the line it creates. Color: The general overarching property exhibited by an object as observed by the human eye as the result of the way an object reflects or emits light. In the case of textiles this may also be used as a verb to reflect changing the color of something by painting, staining, printing on it, or dyeing it. Color may be greatly affected by the fiber content in combination with the dyes, paints, or stains applied to it as well as theatrical lighting and choice of gel. The ways we describe color may be further broken down into the following descriptive terms: Hue: the quality of a color that makes it appear to the human eye as blue, yellow, etc. Saturation: the intensity or purity of a hue in an image Tint: the mixture of a hue with white which creates a lighter color

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Shade: the mixture of a hue with black which creates a darker color Tone: the mixture of a hue with gray which may create a darker or lighter color dependent on the balance of white to black paint in the gray

F i g u r e 3 . 1   Tint, tone, and shade chart.

Texture: This may reference the feel (touch) or visual appearance of the textile. The feel of the actual textile is also often called the hand. In terms of texture it is possible to have a conflicting hand and visual texture. For instance, a fabric that is smooth to the touch could have a rough visual texture by utilizing a pattern or print that changes its visual texture. Space: This term may apply to the actual yardage of textile or printable medium; the actual area that is available to lay out a pattern or to cover an object with. Space can also be defined by examining the positive and negative (filled or unfilled) areas that are present in a pattern or print. Proportion: The size of the pattern or print in relation to the size of fabric as well as in relation to the object it covers.

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PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN The principles of design are terms used to relate the elements of design together and to describe how they visually appear in regards to one another both on the textile and on stage. The principles of design as they pertain to textiles are balance, unity, variety, harmony, movement, rhythm, and emphasis. Balance: The principle that applies to the ratio of color/pattern/shape of the textile itself or its distribution on the body. Unity: The cohesiveness of the textile’s visual texture both within itself and as it relates to other textiles and surfaces on stage. Variety: The level of variances of shape, line, and color. Harmony: Referring to the consistency, arrangement, and aesthetic nature of a pattern or print. Movement: A means of describing the visual texture of a textile, or the literal flow of a fabric on an object in the space. Rhythm: Typically associated with music, this is the visual representation of a regular or repeated pattern. Emphasis: The focus or focal point of the design, or the focus placed on a specific part of the body or stage. This may be determined as a result of color, shape, or visual texture.

DESIGN ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES IN RELATION TO PRODUCTION SCALE Just as our actor friends adjust their performance from the nuanced to the grandiose, depending on the style of production and level of intimacy that the production demands, so must a textile designer consider the scale and scope that their textiles will be viewed under when taking the elements of design into consideration. It stands to reason that textiles with intricate detail that are successful in film and television scenarios may prove to be too subtle or be “lost” on a stage. Equally important is consideration of the language of pattern/print you use and how adjusting the defined principles of the design may significantly alter a textile’s appropriateness for style or genre of work. For example, the same floral pattern used to upholster the same sofa conveys

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two very different emotions and, though the color palette is identical, the size and scope of the scheme very quickly makes one sofa more appropriate for a drawing-room comedy, whereas the other is much better suited for a dramatic period piece.

EXERCISE EMOTIONAL PRINTS Choose a textile pattern that is typically associated with the feeling of happiness such as polka dots or a large-scale bright floral print. How might you adjust elements of the textile pattern, using the elements and principles of design to convey an opposing emotion, such as anger or sadness?

F i g u r e 3 . 2   By changing only the scale of the floral print, the same sofa conveys very ­different styles and moods.

C H A P T E R

4

Textile Production

C h a p t e r c o v e r 4  A custom designed Union Jack flag bustle, for Cloud 9 at Florida State University, 2016 (textile and costume design by Mollie LaTorre).

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TYPES OF CUSTOM TEXTILE GENERATION There are many distinct ways to create your own custom textile print, and the beauty of 21st-century technology is that many of these can be replicated in digital textile form, or can be used as a starting point and then expanded upon digitally, often in a fraction of the time. Hand block printing: Tiles or blocks are carved with a custom shape in the form of a relief and then used in a stamp fashion with inks or dyes to hand stamp a pattern onto fabric. This is useful for folk-infused patterns, simple or rustic looks, and interesting layered effects. This is a challenging technique in that the artist must rely on working with positive and negative space in 3D form. Even distribution of paint, ink, or dye and a steady hand are also imperative. Perrotine printing: Invented by Perrot of Rouen in 1834, this block printing machine can print with a series of three large blocks with reliefs carved into them, allowing for three-color printing. This creates a similar effect to hand block printing but on a larger, more efficient, and more precise scale. This method of fabric printing is still used in France, Italy, and Germany. Roller, cylinder, or machine printing: This process uses a set of rollers or a series to pull fabric through the machine while a top layer of inked roller(s) applies or rolls a print onto the fabric surface. Stencil printing: The process whereby a thin, durable plate, a custom shape, or pattern is carved in and removed, leaving a negative space. Paint or ink is applied using a roller, paintbrush, or sponge which transfers the shape to the underlying material to be decorated. Screen printing: Also called serigraphy, or silk-screen printing. Screen printing is another method of print making that uses stencils. A design or layers of a design are placed on a screen of polyester or other fine mesh, and blank areas are treated with a substance to fill the holes so that ink or paint may not pass through. Ink is pressed into the mesh openings by dragging a flat surface such as a squeegee across, the pressure forcing the ink through the tiny holes and onto the surface below. One color is printed at a time, so several screens can be used to produce a multicolored image or design. One advantage to screen printing is that a greater concentration of ink is passed through to the textile, allowing for more vibrant colors on darker textiles.

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Weaving: The process of creating images or patterns as a part of the structural makeup of the textile. Different colors of string, thread, or yarn are ­arranged and woven as a part of the process of manufacturing the textile. Types of weaving are explained later in this chapter. Embroidery: The process of adding color and texture to an existing piece of textile through use of colorful string/thread/yarn, and possibly beads, shells, or other small embellishments. Digital textile printing: The primary focus of this book. Images are created either through traditional mediums such as pencil, ink, paint, etc., or digitally and then manipulated to create a pattern which is imposed on a textile via a computer and textile printer or plotter.

DIGITAL TEXTILE PRINTING: INK VS. DYE The process of printing textiles digitally can be accomplished through two different means of image transfer via a printer. Let’s start with the basics, which are what type of colors (pigment-based inks or dye-based inks) you will be applying to your surface (fabric or other medium). A pigment-based ink is an ink where very fine color particles are suspended in a carrier liquid. By contrast, dye inks use colorants that completely dissolve in a carrier fluid. A good comparison is simple syrup vs. tomato juice. Water is the carrier liquid in both instances, but whereas once the sugar is dissolved in the water, it will not separate again without intervention, over time, the particulates in tomato juice will slowly settle to the bottom of the mixture. While both inkjet and dye sublimation printing can produce a textile or paper product with your images, there are some key differences between the two processes that are not only handy to know, but may influence which route you choose when printing your designs.

INKJET PRINTING: PROCESS Inkjet printing is a precise system that uses multiple cartridges in primary print colors (magenta, cyan, yellow, black) to spray microscopic drops of liquid ink from nozzles in the cartridges across the printing surface. The cartridges are moved back and forth across the page spraying tiny droplets of

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color that dry on the surface as the printer controls exactly where the dots will land. If you were to zoom in to an inkjet printed piece, you would see thousands of tiny dots of individual color comprising the image. Inkjet printing is color efficient in that only the amount of ink needed to create the image is sprayed from the cartridge. Inkjet printers can be used to print on specialty iron-on transfers as well as specially pretreated fabrics and is a nice option for small projects that can be done “in-house” without needing an expanse of additional materials or equipment.

DYE SUBLIMATION PRINTING: PROCESS Currently the most common form of textile printing, dye sublimation printers work through a process of sublimation, which is the process of a solid ­becoming a gas without passing through a liquid stage. Dye sublimation printers work by heating solid inks on a special ribbon. The gas “ink” solidifies on the media surface which must be pretreated in order for the dye to penetrate the fibers of the textile. This process is less efficient in terms of color usage in comparison to inkjet printing, because the ribbon will only apply a portion of the dye contained on it and cannot be reused. Dye sublimation printing generally requires using polyester-based fabrics, because the process involves slightly melting the fibers in order to physically combine them with the dye. Natural textiles such as cotton require reactive dyes whereas silk, nylon, and wool require acid dyes to print. While it is possible to print on natural fibers, it should be noted that the most widely used materials for custom textile creation are largely polyester based. A wide array of polyester blends make it possible to achieve a similar “look” to natural fiber textiles, while achieving a vibrant print which is colorfast. There are two basic types of dye sublimation printing, transfer printing and direct to fabric printing. Transfer printing is the process by which the printer prints onto a sheet of specially coated paper that when placed under the pressure of a heat press or calendering will release the printed image. The dyes are converted directly from solid to gas, penetrating the fabric surface. Direct to fabric printing is similar to the transfer printing process but the ink is transferred directly onto the pretreated fabric substrate, bypassing the

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need to print onto specially coated paper as a middle step. The elimination of the paper transfer process saves expense, though fabric must still be heat treated either through a calender that is built-in to the printer, or a separate unit used after printing. Direct to fabric printing results in a deeper penetration of the dye into the fibers of the fabric, which may mean more muted colors, but conversely allows for greater show-through on the reverse side of the fabric.

F i g u r e 4 . 1   Fabric that has been printed is loaded into an industrial steamer at Florida State University.

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F i g u r e 4 . 2   Fabric that has been printed is loaded into an ­industrial steamer at Florida State University.

F i g u r e 4 . 3   Steaming times and instructions to heat set dyes onto printed fabrics at Florida State University.

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FABRIC VS. MATERIAL With such a vast array of textile mediums to choose from nowadays, it is important to distinguish the difference between material and fabric. Simply put, a material is the substance or ingredient(s) that make up a cloth or textile, and fabric is the style or type of cloth made from materials. A glossary of type of fabric can be found at the back of this book. A material is made up of fibers, which are the basic components of a textile. A fiber may be a staple fiber, which is a long, slender, thread-like piece, or a series of long continuous pieces known as a filament. Fibers can be broken into two categories, natural and synthetic.

NATURAL FIBERS Natural fibers are derived from plant and animal sources. Cotton, linen, and wool are natural staple fibers. Silk is the only natural fiber that exists as a filament. Typically natural fibers have a high porosity, a contributing factor in how breathable a fabric is as well as how well it absorbs liquids. They are more susceptible to wrinkling, and are generally more fragile due to their organic composition.

SYNTHETIC FIBERS Synthetic fibers are derived from man-made chemical processes. Typically synthetic fibers are in filament form, have a low porosity and absorbency, are durable and have a long shelf-life, and are generally wrinkle resistant though much more susceptible to heat damage. Types of synthetic fibers include: acrylic (faux wool), fiberglass, metallics, modacrylic (faux fur, faux hair), nylon, polyester, spandex, triacetate, and many, many more. When referring to synthetics, this also includes a subcategory of regenerated fibers which are organic materials such as cellulose or wood that ­undergo a chemical processing to turn them into fibers that may be used to make textiles. Rayon and acetate are examples of regenerated or s­emi-synthetic fibers. Naturally occurring cellulose in trees undergoes significant chemical processing before being turned into textiles.

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BASIC TYPES OF FABRIC PRODUCTION Just as there are many ways to construct a garment, there are many ways that fibers can be manipulated in order to produce fabric. The following terms refer to different methods of construction or manufacturing that result in fabric.

WEAVING Weaving is the most common and one of the oldest forms of textile creation. Weaving is a general method by which long strands of fibers are tightly interlaced at a right angle (90 degrees) in order to create fabric. The basic types of weaving are plain weaving, satin weaving, twill, and pile weaving, which is how velvet is produced.

F i g u r e 4 . 4   Left to Right Plain weaving image showing warp and weft. Warp is the vertical or longitudinal thread, while weft is the lateral threads that wrap back and forth across the loom to create a finished edge. Satin weaving image showing warp and weft. The warp thread “floats” or skips over large numbers of weft threads. Twill weaving image showing warp and weft. The weft “floats” followed by warp float, and so on, arranged to create a diagonal pattern.

KNITTING In the world of textiles, knitting does not simply refer to yarn. Knitted fabric consists of row upon row of intermeshed loops of fabric, which are in turn looped into the next row as knitting progresses. Examples of knit fabric include: jersey, fleece, ribbed.

FELTING The process of felting creates a textile by pressing, matting, and condensing fibers together. Felting may be done with natural or synthetic fibers.

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FUSING OR BONDING This process involves combining fibers with pressure and heat or some sort of adhesive or epoxy to create a textile.

LACE Lace involves a process of using a needle and thread by hand or machine to create an intricate design of open web-like delicate fabric.

C H A P T E R

5

Technically Speaking Digital Basics

C h a p t e r c o v e r 5   Count Dracula’s vest, back detail (textile and costume design by Amber Marisa Cook, 2017).

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DIGITAL COMPONENTS When embarking on a custom textile journey, sometimes the most daunting part isn’t designing the textile, but all of the digital components that go hand in hand with digital textile creation. Just as it is important to understand the materials or “ingredients” that make up a fabric, making sure that you understand all of the ingredients of the digital file you wish to become fabric is equally important. Below is a list of basic digital vocabulary as it pertains to digital textile creation.

PIXEL While the physical 3D world can be measured in various ways of categorizing matter such as mass, weight, and dimensions, digital images are made up of pixels. Pixels are digital dots that comprise a digital image but have no set dimension, and may be printed at various sizes.

RESOLUTION Resolution refers to DPI (dots per inch)/PPI (pixels per inch) and is the physical density of dots in a printed image. Specifically, PPI refers to the number of pixels in a linear inch, and is also what determines the resolution of an image. This is an output measurement that is an important consideration when looking at the scale of a finished print on the medium you are using. Pixels will actually decrease in visual size when more of them are collected in an area, and conversely the larger the area, the larger pixels will become to accommodate. Older comic books and works by painters such as Roy Lichtenstein and Peter Max provide interesting examples of exaggerated or prominent pixel size in a 2D visual medium. Typical commercial textile printing recommendations are to upload a file at a minimum of 150 DPI to ensure proper resolution. What this means is that for every 1 inch square piece of fabric there is a minimum of 150 dots comprising the final print image. To determine the minimum image DPI, take the height and width in inches and multiply by 150 (minimum DPI). For example, if you’d like an image to print at 8 × 8 inches, the image you prepare should measure at least 1200 × 1200 pixels, following the formula above, since 8 inches × 150 pixels = 1200.

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F i g u r e 5 . 1   A comparison of two circles, one with a grid of 10 pixels per inch (PPI) versus the same size circle with 20 pixels per inch (PPI), showing the difference in the amount of individual pieces of information making up two circles that are visually the same size.

FILE A file is a collection of data that may compose an image or text that is viewed by computer. Files may be saved or organized by a variety of different types, which are suited to different purposes. File types generally used for graphics are listed below: .gif files are image files that can support animation and transparency, so they are more frequently used for web design, and can be used to print from, though they can only support a limited color palette. .jpeg or .jpg files are a standard format for graphics images and the most common file default format for digital cameras and scanners. The .jpeg employs a larger compression rate that reduces file size but not necessarily quality, though over time and repeated file transfer the .jpg image will begin to degrade after repeated copy and editing. .tiff or .tif files (tagged image format files) are a standard format for graphics or images, and are generally a larger file size as data is less compressed and has more detail. Many digital cameras can save images in this format. .png is a common file type that is generally larger than a .jpeg file but because it loses little in the compression process, it tends to yield better sharpness and consistency so it is useful to preserve large areas of solid color or crisp line work.

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SCAN A scan is a digital copy or file created by taking a physical piece of material (paper, fabric, etc.) and scanning in or taking a digital read of the material to be processed by the computer. Many printers and copy machines today have a “scan” function. Scanned images can be used to create textiles “as is” or digitally manipulated in an editing or graphics program to further enhance and edit the image. Scans are raster images.

RASTER IMAGE Also called a bitmap image, a raster image is a rectangular grid of pixels that comprise an image. A raster image allows the designer to manipulate a large array of details such as depth, shading, and texture because each individual pixel color can be controlled. Programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Painter, MS Paint, and GIMP all work primarily with raster images. A raster image can be converted to vector based.

VECTOR IMAGE A vector image uses a series of 2D polygons to comprise images in computer graphics rather than a square grid system. The vector image is best for dealing with crisp shapes, lines, and angles, and simple colors. The color of vector images is easy to manipulate because of the simplicity of layout. Programs such as Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, and Inkscape are Vector-based programs which revolve around editing shapes, rather than pixels.

DIGITALLY ADJUSTING YOUR WORK One of the advantages to creating your own textiles is the ability to digitally make adjustments and experiment with your base pattern in a fraction of the time it would take to re-draw. The digital editing terms below may be helpful to add an authentic feeling to your work. The image in Figure 5.2 is a simple half-drop repeat of Wormwood vine, designed and painted on paper by Hannah Griffin. Once Hannah was happy with the pattern, the image was scanned and “cleaned” of the paper lines that are visible in Photoshop. The Clone Stamp tool was used rather than simply erasing, since refilling a seemingly empty white space can sometimes lead to tiny fill lines.

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F i g u r e 5 . 2  Detail of Wormwood Print by Hannah Griffin. Left- the image has been taped back together and scanned into digital file format. Right- the image has been digitally “cleaned” to remove paper edges and “noise” from pencil smudges.

HUE AND SATURATION Adjusting the hue of your work will adjust the color value that you see, while the saturation is the amount of color that the image contains. For some antique prints, reducing the color saturation will aid in making your design feel aged and “of the time.” Greatly increasing the saturation will lend the feeling of neon or fluorescence and might be perfect for a psychedelic late 1960s feel.

BRIGHTNESS AND CONTRAST By adjusting the brightness of an image, even temporarily, you may see smudges and specks that are left over from hand rendering your pattern, allowing you the opportunity to “clean” your image before printing. Adjusting contrast is also helpful to consider if you find that your images are too similar to your background or to have an image feel less disconnected from its background.

DROP SHADOW By adding a small shadow behind your images, you can give a 3D feel to printed trims and appliqués, so you don’t lose the realistic feel of layers.

FILTERS By applying a filter to your images, you can adjust the style and feeling that the pattern is rendered in. Filters are particularly helpful if you are starting

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with a piece of photography because it allows you to retain the colors and shapes of the image while eliminating the photorealism aspect that may not be as appealing or appropriate to use on a period show.

PROCESS Designing the Character: Costume Designer Amber Marisa Cook A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Roxanne Wellington, Conservatory of Theatre and Dance at Southeast Missouri State University, 2016 For Tennessee Williams’ iconic character Blanche DuBois, Cook was particularly drawn to the imagery of fresh flowers that wilt over time under intense heat and pressure. She opted to use custom fabric prints for the metaphor of wilting and dying flowers. The custom textiles that were created evoke a sense of Blanche’s supposed delicate sensibilities, in direct conflict with her surroundings, the steamy, seedy world of New Orleans in the 1940s. By playing with the scale and density of the floral motifs, a larger, more translatable to stage pattern emerged, and custom printed textile also allowed for matching print textiles in both jersey for the gloves and a poly crepe for a perfectly coordinated ensemble that was accommodating to modern construction techniques with a classic 1940s spin. The starting points were photography of magnolia blossoms, as a symbol of youth and beauty, and a wilted iris as a metaphor for rot and decay. A digital “oil paint” filter was applied to give the floral images a sketched and watercolored feeling that was characteristic of textiles in the 1940s and 1950s. For the costume rendering, once a pencil sketch was created, it was scanned in and the file from the original textile design was laid on a repeat and scaled to lay into the costume rendering in Photoshop. Added shadows and skin tones were laid in using art markers after printing. This process of using the digital file to “color” the rendering made it possible for the director to see a more accurate version of the final costume, with very little extra work since the textile pattern already existed in digital form.

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F i g u r e 5 . 3   Detail of magnolia fabric design in jpeg form.

F i g u r e 5 . 4   Digitally “colored” costume rendering of Blanche DuBois by Amber Marisa Cook.

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F i g u r e 5 . 5  Cidney Woodson as Blanche DuBois, Act 1 Scene 1, photography by Kenneth L. Stilson.

F i g u r e 5 . 6   Cidney Woodson as Blanche DuBois, with Kelli Jaycox (Stella) and Emmani Cunningham (Eunice), in the “Wilted Flower Dress,” photography by Kenneth L. Stilson.

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F i g u r e 5 . 7   Detail of wilted flower fabric design in jpeg form.

C H A P T E R   6

Surface Work Styles of Prints and Repeats

C h a p t e r c o v e r 6   Wood Nymph from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (costume design by Wendi R. Zea, 2016).

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In order to get to precisely what you designed, it is important to keep all of the vocabulary surrounding your printed surface in mind. It is easy to get lost in the digital detail and forget some basic considerations about your 3D medium that you might otherwise consider commonsense. To ensure good communication with your shop, and your fabric printer, whether in house or from a third party, below are a list of general terms as they apply to printable surfaces as well as things to consider.

BASIC PATTERN/PRINT TYPES When thinking about visual texture for your custom design, there are a number of different categories of patterns or prints to consider as a jumping-off point. Some ways we can think about categorizing types of visual texture/­pattern are as follows: geometric, floral, ethnic, conversational, and ­textured. E ­ xamining what your primary goals are in custom designing a textile for storytelling will often give you a clue as to which category you may want to use as a jumping-off point for your design. You may find that your intended design fits more than one of the following categories. The fabric and print glossary at the back of this book provides more in-depth information about specific types of patterns/prints that fall under these categories. Geometric: A pattern, design, or motif that depicts abstract or nonrepresentational shapes which may include circles, ellipses, polygons, rectangles, and triangles.

F i g u r e 6 . 1   Various styles of geometric print.

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Floral: A design that uses flowers, leaves, or other natural plant life such as seeds, plants, or marine life.

F i g u r e 6 . 2   A floral motif drawn in pencil.

Ethnic: A design that has its origins in a specific culture, region, country, folklore, or religion, and may relate to social status, culture specific stories or heritage, or regional practicality.

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F i g u r e 6 . 3   A digitally “painted” ethnic motif (Chinese).

Conversational: A design that contains recognizable objects or motifs in the print.

F i g u r e 6 . 4   A sea-themed conversational print.

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Textured motif: A pattern or design that creates the visual feel or appearance of a textured surface such as earth, stone, wood, or an alternate fabric texture.

F i g u r e 6 . 5   Textured print scales (top) and woodgrain (bottom).

ADDITIONAL SURFACE CONSIDERATIONS Beyond the general motif of your design, there are a number of other factors to consider in the production process that are detailed below, with additional particulars regarding using your custom textile for storytelling or characterization. These considerations may fall under the visual attributes of a textile, such as pattern or motif, they may be physical attributes, or they may fall under both categories.

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Scale and layout density: Scale refers to the size of the motifs/pattern on the textile surface. Layout density refers to how much negative space exists between each individual motif or shape. When choosing fabric from a conventional source such as an in-person or online retailer, you are generally limited to the size/scale of print that is carried by the manufacturer, which can mean that an ideal print or color motif may not be the ideal size/scale and therefore not appropriate for stage or screen. In Chapter 3, the elements and principles of design are applied to conveying emotion and character. A couple of examples of how scale and layout can thwart a good theatrical garment or scenic element include the following: a bold fleur-de-lis print may be the ideal fabric width and color palette for a character but the scale of the pattern may be too large, too comedic, or too reminiscent of upholstery to use for an 18th-century ball gown; or a beautiful pastel floral calico may be too dense and of a small enough scale that from the audience view under stage lighting, the textile appears to be one muddy shade of color, rather than a dainty print. By custom printing your own textiles, you can adjust the pattern/motif scale up or down in order to accommodate the lighting and viewing constraints typical to your particular genre of storytelling. Directionality: This refers to the general orientation or layout of the motif or pattern. A pattern may be single-directional, or multi-directional. Fabrics that are multi-directional can be rotated in various directions with no discernible difference in the general orientation of the motif or pattern. In the world of visual texture, single-directional fabric is similar to the pile of fabric in that it has a noticeable visual difference depending on the orientation of the textile onto the building or playing space. Generally speaking, whether upholstering or building a garment, single-directional textiles require more fabric and also generate more fabric waste or scrap because they require a single-directional layout of the textile in order to cover the garment layout. Composition: This refers to the way the design repeats itself and how loosely or densely your design is positioned on the fabric. Types of pattern repeats and how to achieve them are discussed in Chapter 7. Once you preview or repeat your pattern you may find the following are present, and may

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wish to eliminate them before proceeding to give a more fluid and professional feel: Holes: Blank areas that may have unintentionally been created in the design as a result of shifting and rejoining pieces. Alleys: Linear gaps in the layout of the design. These may be aesthetically pleasing when consistent in size and shape, or may be something you wish to avoid. Half-block repeats may cause alleys that you wish to fill in or leave depending on the look of your fabric. Lineups: Images that upon repeating become aligned in some sort of linear fashion—this can create directionality in a print where it may be ­undesirable. ­

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES Drape/hand: The way a fabric hangs under its own weight is called the drape, and the way that a fabric feels to the touch is often referred to as the hand. Many factors influence the drape and hand of fabric including fiber content, method of manufacturing, and color processing. Width: Referring to the manufactured width of a textile. Common widths for manufactured textiles are 44/45, 54, 58/60, 72, 96, and 102 inches. It is important to note the width and directionality of a fabric when determining yardage for a project, since a narrower width will require a greater amount of fabric and may change the direction of layout for a project if the width will not accommodate specific pattern pieces. Selvage: This refers to the factory finished edges of the fabric that are the weft of the textile. Whether a fabric has a printed or woven design, the selvage edge may have an unfinished edge on one or both selvage edges that is undesirable for production purposes. Think of digital printing selvage as a set of page margins on a document. You may be able to adjust on your own printer or negotiate them with a third-party provider but you may never be able to completely eliminate them and so you should take them into a­ ccount when determining yardage since some printing selvages can be up to 1 inch wide.

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Grain: The direction that the fibers run in a paper or textile. The lengthwise grain runs parallel to the selvage along the length of the fabric, and the cross grain runs perpendicular to the selvage edge of the fabric, widthwise to the fabric. Though you should always confirm information with individual printers, most third-party print options will print fabric oriented to align with the crosswise grain, which means that you will need to consider your pattern’s directionality in relation to how it will print on the actual fabric. You may need to rotate the direction of your print/motif 90 degrees to maximize the size of fabric you have to work with in relation to your project. Bias: This is the true 45-degree angle between grain and cross grain, or the true diagonal on a square piece of fabric. The bias of a fabric has more stretch, a better drape, and is well suited for wrapping around curved surfaces. Pieces cut on the bias may use considerable extra fabric due to specificity of project pattern layout angles.

F i g u r e 6 . 6   The blue weft and red warp are shown with the black line indicating the bias of a plain-weave.

Opacity: The opacity of a fabric refers to how sheer it is or how much light can escape through the weave of a fabric. As a general rule, the lighter the hand or weight of a fabric the more opacity that fabric may potentially have. Opacity is important to consider on custom printed fabrics since a separate lining layer is often incorporated in garment building and may change

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the underlying tint or tone to a textile design depending on the sheerness of the fabric and color of its lining. Visual and physical texture: As discussed in Chapter 3, this refers to both the physical feel of fabric as well as the visual “feel.” The visual and physical texture may be harmonious to one another or contrasting. The specific type of fabric you choose to print your design on will impact the visual texture and should be taken into consideration for end results. Fabrics with high polyester content or pile often have an inherent shine to them that may contradict a desired texture such as wool, wood, stone, or loose woven textures. Weight: From a technical standpoint, the weight of fabric is generally referred to in terms of oz/yd2 (ounces per square yard) or GSM or g/m2 (grams per square meter) as a means of talking about the actual physical weight of fabric contained in a specific surface area. This means of measuring the weight of fabric is used as an international frame of reference for determining weight which is handy in a world where there is a nearly endless variety of fabric types. In aesthetic terms, the visual weight of fabric may be different from its ­actual physical weight; fabrics that appear lush and rich may inherently ­visually be so due to their color and visual texture, rather than the actual physical density of the material, just as heavier fabrics may be manipulated in a manner that has the appearance of movement and flow typically attributed to fabrics with a physically lighter weight.

Collaborative Process: Remounting the Show—Costume Designer Wendi R. Zea, Scenic Designer Ronald Naversen The Lion, theWitch and theWardrobe, directed by J. Thomas Kidd, Southern Illinois University, 2016 “Designing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for SIU Department of Theater provided a unique opportunity for using printed fabric. The script we

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F i g u r e 6 . 7   Wood Nymphs frolic amongst a birch tree forest (photography by C ­ arrington Spires).

F i g u r e 6 . 8   Hand props constructed with matching birch bark fabric.

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were using utilized characters called Wood Nymphs to change the scenery and assist in the action of the play. The director wanted the Wood Nymphs to be part of the forest, being able to almost disappear into the woodwork, as it were. As I developed the design, asymmetrical jumpers draped with vines, I knew I would need some sort of bark print fabric to achieve the desired look. I began a search for appropriate fabric, and quickly looked at Spoonflower. To my surprise, they already had several bark print fabrics in their inventory, and after conferring with the scenic designer and director, we chose one of the birch bark prints. I was able to order a swatch, which allowed the scenic designer to use similar colors in the painted bark on the scenery. When we decided to remount the production the following year, the director wanted to add two more Wood Nymphs. As opposed to another fabric, that may have easily been out of stock a year later, I was able to quickly order more of the same fabric, which was printed and sent by the company promptly. Being able to choose a very specific print of fabric, not often easily available, helped make the design come to life.”

SURFACE SMARTS: CHOOSING THE IDEAL PRINTABLE MATERIAL When you are considering a custom designed textile, it is important to note that just as there are myriad pattern and design choices to be made in terms of character and storytelling, there are also quite a few printable surfaces to consider when choosing to go custom. Table 6.1 provides an overview of the types of fabric that are available through mainstream third-party printers as well as what they may be suitable for.

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T a b l e 6 . 1   Fabric characteristics and uses.

Drape/Hand

Opacity

Texture

Durability

Very Soft to Soft

Mostly Sheer to Semiopaque

Silky, smooth, slippery

Medium to Strong

Soft to Medium

Semiopaque to Opaque

Smooth

Weak to Medium

Opaque

Smooth to Semismooth

Medium to Strong

Soft to Medium

Opaque

Smooth to Semismooth

Medium to Strong

Soft to Medium

Semiopaque to Opaque

Smooth

Medium to Strong

Medium to Stiff

Opaque

Smooth

Weak to Medium

Light Weight

(satin, crepe de chine, faille) Medium Weight/Quilting Weight (satin, crepe de chine, faille) Heavy Weight

Medium to Heavy

(canvas, duck cloth) Woven (poplin, sateen) Knit (jersey, performance knits, interlock) Paper (wall paper, photo paper, gift wrap)

Designer Process: Jessica Hansen, Costume Designer Tartuffe, directed by James Buglewicz, East Los Angeles College, 2016 “The concept of the costumes for this production of Tartuffe was that the characters had the fabric prints and patterns from the 17th and 18th centuries, but they were dressed in silhouettes from time periods that reflected their personalities as well as color palettes. Madame Pernelle was dressed in an Elizabethan silhouette and colors, but her skirt fabric was a pastoral print. I was unable to source fabric in the proper color palette with a toile print.

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F i g u r e 6 . 9   Madame Pernelle, Tartuffe at East Los Angeles College, 2016 (textile and costume design by Jessica Hansen).

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F i g u r e 6 . 1 0   Close-up of Madame Pernelle’s skirt fabric, Tartuffe at East Los Angeles College, 2016 (textile and costume design by Jessica Hansen).

F i g u r e 6 . 1 1   A scene from Tartuffe at East Los Angeles College, 2016 (textile and costume design by Jessica Hansen).

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I then decided that printing would be the best option, since most toile prints are on cotton or canvas, and I wanted a satin finish. The challenge for this particular project was that the original image I used to create the print was a jpeg file and I was unable to separate each individual color, like an image created from scratch in Illustrator. If each color is separated in the image, our fabric printing software Evolution can pick up on the colors individually and you can tweak them. Since I was locked into an image with thousands of colors, the process to edit the image took longer. First I opened it in Photoshop. I then had to make the image repeatable and symmetrical. The next step was to try to reduce the amount of colors used so I had a more manageable color palette. Then I was able to alter the color in Photoshop before transferring the file to Evolution. In Evolution, I was able to create multiple tests of the image with varying levels of green and cyan. We printed these test swatches onto the fabric to see the true color, since the monitor to the printing will show completely different colors. From there we chose the right version and printed 10 yards onto a satin polyester. Our fabric printer is a Mimaki and our heat press is a Digifab Heat Press.”

EXERCISES 1. Write down a list of ten descriptive words that are important to the character of Jack in the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. 2. Using the descriptive words in your list, determine which styles of prints/ patterns may work well for an energetic children’s theatre production of the story. 3. Which types of fabrics would be most suitable for fabrics for Jack’s clothing? 4. How might you keep the same character feel and representation but modify the above fabrics for: a traditional ballet production of the same story; a horror movie inspired version meant for adults; or an interior of a room inspired by the same character and story?

C H A P T E R

7

Render the Pattern Creating Your Own Digital Textile Print

C h a p t e r c o v e r 7  Blanche DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire (textile and ­costume design by Amber Marisa Cook, 2016).

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The beauty of using a third-party printing source is that many companies provide online tools to create some basic repeats right on the preview page. Though this is a handy way to immediately see what your finished textile will look like in digital format, designers often find that a more complex pattern is desired. In this chapter we will examine a large, though by no means exhaustive, list of pattern and motif styles as well as how to create them yourself. Hand and digital examples are included, and a wealth of internet and print resources listed in the resources section of this book may further inspire you to explore the wide world of patterns and prints. A variety of digital programs exist to help you create an entirely digitally based pattern—Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, SketchBook, Pixlr, and Inkscape are only a few of the many options that a designer has to choose from for a digital platform. A list of program resources can be found in the resources section of this book. The steps below use general terms and are meant as a general tutorial for accomplishing basic patterns in a variety of styles. Some terminology may vary slightly depending on the software, but the general process remains the same.

BASIC REPEAT PATTERNS Basic/block/square repeat: This pattern is perhaps the simplest to create. It consists of an image or images dropped consistently and evenly spaced over an invisible grid, similar to tiles on a floor.

F i g u r e 7 . 1   Basic block or square repeat.

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Half-drop: This is a staggered layout of the basic or block layout with a­ lternating vertical rows of tiles dropped or shifted one half-block down from the previous row. Depending on the method you use for the layout of your drop, you will have vertical and diagonal alleys, or just diagonal ones.

F i g u r e 7 . 2   Half-drop repeat with vertical and diagonal alleys.

F i g u r e 7 . 3   Half-drop repeat with diagonal alleys.

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Half-brick: In this arrangement, rather than a vertical staggered layout of images, the rows are horizontally shifted one half-block to the right or left in alternating rows, similar to a brick wall.

F i g u r e 7 . 4   Half-brick repeat.

Toss/random pattern: Also called a seamless repeat, this pattern feels random and hides the obvious repeat in a pattern. Motifs may be directional or “tossed” randomly so that the fabric is multi-directional. This repeat is commonly used for floral and conversational fabric types.

F i g u r e 7 . 5   Toss/random pattern repeat.

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Diamond and ogee patterns: This is a variation on a half-brick pattern where the diamond shape of the image flows directly into the next image below it. An ogee is a diamond shape with rounded vertical sides, resembling a circle or compass with two vertical points. Ogee patterns are derived from the ancient Middle Eastern world, and are a prevalent feature in a lot of Gothic architecture.

F i g u r e 7 . 6   A simple ogee repeat.

Plaid: A pattern woven into or printed onto cloth of stripes with different widths that cross each other to form squares. Tartan is a synonym for plaid, though it is a specific style of plaid originating in Scotland with various color and weaving patterns used to delineate clans or families in Scotland.

F i g u r e 7 . 7   A woven plaid.

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RENDERING YOUR OWN PATTERN In this section we will explore the basics in creating your own patterns, using both hand and digital methods. Through practice and experimentation you will find methods that will fine tune your custom designs.

RENDER THE PATTERN: SIMPLE HALF-DROP PATTERN WITH VERTICAL AND DIAGONAL ALLEYS A simple half-drop pattern can be made by hand or digitally by taking the following steps. Step 1: Create an image or motif in a square image or canvas format. Step 2: Scan in the image and adjust size accordingly. Step 3: Using a digital illustration program, copy your image and tile it so that each new vertical row of images is staggered half a block down from the adjacent image. Alternatively, many online resources will allow you to select a “half-drop” option and will tile the image for you in a preview or layout format.

HAND AND DIGITAL RENDER THE PATTERN: HALF-DROP PATTERN WITH A DIAGONAL ALLEY Step 1: Hand: Cut a square piece of paper and sketch your design in the center of the paper, being sure to leave room on each corner free. Step 1: Digital: Using a square canvas shape, sketch or collage digital images of your design together, working from the center outward. You will find that turning on the grid function as well as guidelines, if available, will be of great help to you. Be sure to leave open room at each corner of your canvas. Step 2: Hand: Label your corners with pencil and cut your square in half vertically. Step 2: Digital: If you are using multiple images or layers to create your pattern, you will want to link or combine your layers before moving to this step. Saving an extra copy of your design at this stage may be helpful so that you can return to fine tune your design later. Using snap lines or guidelines, bisect your image in half vertically to create two separate layers.

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Step 3: Hand and digital: Next swap the two halves so the outsides are now the insides and touching. Step 4: Hand: Cut the right half piece of paper in half horizontally to create two squares. Step 4: Digital: Bisect the right half piece of the image in half horizontally to create two squares. Step 5: Hand and digital: Swap the bottom and top pieces. This will create your half-drop. Step 6: Hand: Tape your pieces back together and fill in the new center of your design. Now you can scan your pattern into a computer and upload your file to a textile printing company to preview your layout. Be sure to “clean” any edges or lines that may appear in the repeat of your pattern by making sure no visible cut lines can be seen in the scan of the pattern. Step 6: Digital: Fill in your new center with additional images to complete your design. Once you save the file in an image format you will be able to tile it yourself to preview it or upload to a third-party printing website to preview your layout.

F i g u r e 7 . 8   Step 1.

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F i g u r e 7 . 9   Step 2.

F i g u r e 7 . 1 0   Step 3.

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F i g u r e 7 . 1 1   Finished half-drop repeat with vertical and diagonal alleys.

DIGITALLY RENDER THE PATTERN: TOSS/RANDOM ­PATTERN Step 1: Using a square canvas shape, sketch or collage digital images of your ­design together, working from the center outward. You will find that turning on the grid function as well as guidelines, if available, will be of great help to you. Be sure to leave open room at each corner of your canvas. Step 2: If you are using multiple images or layers to create your pattern, you will want to link or combine your layers before moving to this step. Saving an extra copy of your design at this stage may be helpful so that you can return to fine tune your design later. Using snap lines or guidelines, bisect your image in half vertically to create two separate layers. Step 3: Next repeat this process horizontally. You should now have four separate, equally sized squares on your canvas. Step 4: M  ove the bottom two squares to become the top two squares. Step 5: Move the two left squares to become the two right squares. You should now have the center of your drawing appearing at each of the outer corners of your large square, and a center blank spot to finish filling in your design.

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Step 6: Once you have finished your design, be sure to save in a high-quality image file format and at least 300 DPI. Next upload your file to a textile printing company to preview your layout. Be sure to “clean” any edges or lines that may appear in the repeat of your pattern by making sure no visible cut lines can be seen in the scan of the pattern. It can be difficult to see if one of your pieces has been nudged even the tiniest bit off its grid with the naked eye, so zooming in to your image to ensure perfect alignment is key.

Hand-rendering instructions: Follow the same steps using a square piece of paper. Once you have filled in your design, at Step 6, carefully reassemble your original square and tape your pieces back together. Now you can scan your pattern into a computer and upload your file to a textile printing company to preview your layout. Be sure to “clean” any edges or lines that may appear in the repeat of your pattern by making sure no visible cut lines can be seen in the scan of the pattern. More information on digitally cleaning your images can be found in Chapter 10.

F i g u r e 7 . 1 2   Step 1.

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F i g u r e 7 . 1 3   Step 2.

F i g u r e 7 . 1 4   Step 3.

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F i g u r e 7 . 1 5   Step 4.

F i g u r e 7 . 1 6   Step 5.

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F i g u r e 7 . 1 7   Step 6, a finished random/toss floral pattern.

DIGITALLY RENDER THE PATTERN: OGEE/DIAMOND ­PATTERN Step 1: Start by drawing or sourcing a single diamond or ogee shape. Scan your image in if necessary and “clean” the image to make the background transparent or one solid color. A single color background is very important at this stage to ensure a seamless repeat for your pattern. Step 2: Duplicate your image layer on your canvas. Clearly label each of your two images and consider “hiding” the copy of your image while you do the next few steps so you can keep track of which image you are manipulating. Step 3: Determine the original image size in pixels (for instance, 300 × 500), and “Offset” the image by choosing the “Wrapping” option. In Adobe Photoshop, the path to do this is: Filter > Other > Offset—check “Wrap Around.” Step 4: Enter half the number of the dimension in each corresponding box, and submit or click “OK” For example, using our original image size 300 × 500, you would enter an offset amount of 150 × 250.

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Step 5: Now “unhide” the duplicate copy of your image. You have just created a seamless ogee or diamond repeat! From here you can change the color of your center ogee or background color as necessary.

F i g u r e 7 . 1 8   Step 1, a basic ogee shape.

F i g u r e 7 . 1 9   Step 2.

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F i g u r e 7 . 2 0   Step 4.

F i g u r e 7 . 2 1   Step 5, finished ogee pattern.

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DIGITALLY RENDER THE PATTERN: STRIPES AND PLAIDS An excellent program for digitally creating your plaid for those who are ­especially pixel savvy is www.plaidmaker.com. The following is a fairly simple method of digital plaid creation using Adobe Photoshop. Step 1: Choose a color palette of four colors. There are many helpful online palette color templates or simply choose four colors as you go and use the eyedropper tool to repeat the same colors. For striped patterns you may wish to use a two-color stripe for simplicity.  reate a square canvas that is 300 × 300 pixels. Step 2: C Step 3: Go to View > New Guide and set vertical guides at .10 inches, .25 inches, .45 inches, .60 inches, and .75 inches. For striped patterns you may wish to have evenly spaced or variable width stripes. Step 4: Using one color, fill in two non-adjacent rectangles of color using the rectangular marquee tool to select the area marked by the guidelines and the paint bucket tool to fill the areas. Step 5: Repeat Step 4 with the other empty rectangles until a striped pattern is fully filled. All of your colored rectangles should be on one layer. You have now created a lovely striped pattern. To create a plaid, proceed to Step 6. Step 6: Duplicate the entire striped layer. Step 7: Rotate the duplicate layer 90 degrees. Edit > Transform > Rotate 90 Clockwise. You should now have one layer in its original format with horizontal bands of color and one vertical layer. (Hint: “Turn Visibility Off ” your top layer to see the identical layer beneath it.) Step 8: With both layers visible, select the top layer and change its opacity to 50%. This can be done on the side layers menu on the workspace or by going to Layer Style > Blending Options: Custom > Advanced Blending > Fill Opacity. You should now be able to see both layers of stripes in a plaid pattern, and you can adjust the opacity of your top layer to your taste, but 50% is generally a good sticking point.

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You can now upload your plaid to preview before custom printing. For those who wish to have an advanced extra layer of detail created by faux stitching, proceed to Step 9. Step 9:  C  reate a new 6 × 6 pixel file with a transparent background. You will want to have the grid option visible. Step 10: Select a color that is a good mid-tone in your color palette to use as the “stitching.” Step 11: Increase the image view to 800%. Select the pencil tool and adjust the size to be a 1 × 1 pixel tip. Fill in individual pixels as shown. Step 12: Turn your “stitching” file into a pattern by going to Edit > Define ­Pattern. Step 13: Return to your original plaid file to add the stitching pattern on top of your design. Go to the top layer and go to Layer Style > Pattern Overlay and select the pattern you’ve just defined in Step 12. This will apply the “stitching” layer to your plaid.

F i g u r e 7 . 2 2   Steps 1–4, a set of guidelines with filled in rectangles has been started on a 300 x 300 DPI canvas.

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F i g u r e 7 . 2 3   Step 5.

F i g u r e 7 . 2 4   Steps 6-7, a duplicated stripe pattern, rotated 90 degrees.

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F i g u r e 7 . 2 5   Step 8, opacity of top layer adjusted to 50%.

F i g u r e 7 . 2 6   Steps 9–11, a 6 × 6 DPI box with individual pixels for “stitches.”

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F i g u r e 7 . 2 7   Steps 11–12, finished plaid repeat with faux stitching.

C H A P T E R   8

All in the Trimming Digital Appliqué and Embroidery

C h a p t e r c o v e r 8  Custom print, cut, and sew dresses for a 1920s inspired ballet (textile and costume design by Travis Halsey, Halsey Onstage).

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Bring the world to your doorstep. Finding inspiration is oftentimes the easy part of the design, but translating that inspiration to actual 3D materials in adequate quantities can be a challenge. Whether due to cost, availability, or time to apply, sometimes the finishing touches to a garment or well-upholstered piece of furniture must be compromised. In this chapter, we will look at several ways to take existing images or pieces of trims/notions and turn them into a digital textile that can be appliquéd onto or incorporated directly into the build of the finished piece.

Designer Process: Colleen Muscha, Costume Designer Twelfth Night at Texas Shakespeare Festival

F i g u r e 8 . 1  Digitally designed striped patterns for vests in their original digital form designed by Colleen Muscha.

F i g u r e 8 . 2  Digitally designed striped patterns for vests in their original digital form designed by Colleen Muscha.

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F i g u r e 8 . 3   Digitally designed striped patterns for vests as finished, wearable garments designed by Colleen Muscha.

F i g u r e   8 . 4   An intricate ombre motif in its digital file form is used as an elaborate border for Orsino’s robe.

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F i g u r e 8 . 5   Finished garment using the same intricate ombre motif.

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What was the rationale/motivation for choosing to design and print textiles? ­

“I designed two stripe patterns for Viola as Cesario and for Orsino. Cesario’s is printed on cotton sateen and Orsino’s on silk dupioni. After looking at the print, I decided to add satin ribbon appliqué stripes to the fabric. Bright blue for Cesario and white for Orsino. I wanted them to have a slight coordination of color and pattern with a more decorative one for Orsino. The other design is for Orsino’s banyan (robe). He first was seen in a more casual, romantic look at the beginning of the play. I wanted the look of a more ethnic pattern I found in research as a border. The research was embroidered, but knew we couldn’t do that so I printed a border pattern. This too was a silk dupioni so that it had a romantic flow to the garment. We added color binding to the edges.”

Designer Process: Austin M. Rausch, Costume Designer A rgonautika at Penn State University, 2017

F i g u r e 8 . 6   Costume rendering for King Aetes by Austin M. Rausch.

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F i g u r e 8 . 7   Original trim inspiration image for King Aetes.

F i g u r e 8 . 8   Detail of digitally designed textile costume pieces for King Aetes.

What was the rationale/motivation for choosing to design and print ­textiles? For the character of King Aetes, Austin Rausch sourced images from Mary G. Houston’s book Ancient Egyptian, Assyrian, and Persian Costumes and Decorations, to manipulate and print for the belt and sash. The fabric was printed by Spoonflower on lightweight cotton twill and because of its complex detail, time spent recreating the prints through block printing or stenciling was able to be utilized elsewhere in the production while still maintaining cultural and historical accuracy.

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PLAYING WITH TEXTURE: TECHNOLOGY AS A RENDERING TOOL The small scrap pieces of trim below have been scanned into digital format and through experimentation with various filters using Photoshop, a variety of different visual textures and finishes become possible allowing the designer to turn a shortcoming—not enough trim—into an advantage.

F i g u r e 8 . 9   Original digital scan of random appliqués.

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F i g u r e 8 . 1 0  Appliqués arranged in a motif have been digitally manipulated by copying, trimming, and arrangement as well as adjusting hue, saturation, and brightness of images. A drop shadow was added to create a 3D effect.

F i g u r e 8 . 1 1  ­Appliqué arrangement with an inverted color scheme. Shadows now appear as raised or textured spots on background.

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EMBROIDERY WITHOUT A NEEDLE By scanning in and arranging various pieces of appliqué, a small quantity of physical pieces can be transformed into a high-impact piece without need of an embroidery machine or countless hours of hand stitching. Alternatively, starting with a royalty-free image akin to a coloring-book page is another useful way to quickly create faux trims and appliqués.

F i g u r e 8 . 1 2   A scan of several small scrap pieces of trim.

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F i g u r e 8 . 1 3   An “embroidered” piece of trim created by manipulating size and multiplying images.

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WEIGHTLESS EMBELLISHMENT Converting high-impact jewelry pieces to digital files allows for duplication of single pieces as well as the visual appeal of a costume dripping with jewels without the weight of actual metal and stones on a costume. The following collars were created entirely digitally by using open-source digital images of jewelry and a digital collar pattern. For large chorus shows, digital manipulation of trims and embellishment allow for easy variations and create highimpact cut-and-sew pieces.

F i g u r e 8 . 1 4   A digital image of a collar in full size with digital “swatches” of embellishments to be used.

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F i g u r e 8 . 1 5   Images are layered and placed on top of the pattern piece in Photoshop.

F i g u r e 8 . 1 6   A background fill color is added as well as a drop-shadow for a 3D effect.

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F i g u r e 8 . 1 7   The same collar pattern is used with a new layout of metallic jewelry images.

F i g u r e 8 . 1 8  The background layer of “fabric” is swapped giving the appearance of elaborate metalwork.

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EXERCISES BUILDING A TEXTURE SWATCH BOOK Source several digital images of trims, appliqués, and beadwork. You may include 3D pieces that have been scanned in to create a digital file, research images from printed magazines or books, hand renderings, and digital images curated from the internet.

GRANDMOTHER’S RELICS Imagine you are in need of a complex and sophisticated embroidered tablecloth to be used as set dressing in a small theatre, where attention to detail is key. Using your own scanned in bits of lace and appliqué, create a beautiful tablecloth or apron that looks as though it has been embroidered.

C H A P T E R

9

Making Piece with It Print, Cut, Sew

C h a p t e r c o v e r 9   “Panel 4” digital rendering for An American Hero (scenic design by Amber Marisa Cook, 2018).

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The beauty of a custom textile is that you can take your customization as far as shaping the image to the body, garment, or prop it will be covering before printing. Using calculated measurements and some added time on the front end of a project to ensure as much accuracy as possible can result in beautiful images that arrive, almost by magic, in full color and already sized for production.

HELPFUL HINTS When working with full-size pattern pieces for a cut-and-sew project, you will want to obtain a 1:1 (full-size) or 1:2 (half-scale) digital scan or vector drawing of your pattern pieces. You will then want to lay out your pattern pieces digitally on a canvas in the same manner you would lay out your pieces on a piece of fabric. In the case of full-scale scenic pieces, it will be helpful to determine the area to be covered and add some extra inches for that all important “wiggle room.” Be sure to leave enough space for cutting room and seam allowance between pieces. You will find it helpful to have notches or markers that will aid you in lining up trims or patterns in the same manner that you would line up your seam allowances.

PROJECT AND PROCESS: MODERN MARIACHI PANTS A basic pattern for the back and front of a pair of pants has been scanned in in jpeg form with helpful guidelines including a grainline. The appliqué image is lined up and repeated down the edge of the grainline of the pants as well as adding decoration to the darts on the back at the waistline.

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F i g u r e 9 . 1   A full-scale pattern for women’s pants in digital form, with guidelines for image placement and straight of grain.

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F i g u r e 9 . 2   An image of appliqué is repeated and placed along the straight of grain and split along darts.

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Additional floral images are placed on the front leg of the pant, with overlap on the front side seam where it will wrap around onto the back side seam of the leg. The pants will eventually have a black background but at this stage it is easier to align images with guidelines visible. The images are then sliced and moved to the corresponding seam using guidelines for proper placement. Seam allowances have not been added to the outside edges of the pattern for ease of placement of images.

F i g u r e 9 . 3   Images that “bleed” off the garment edge are ideal for use on the corresponding leg seams to create a visually “seamless” continuation of image or pattern.

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F i g u r e 9 . 4   Floral images with overages have been cut and placed along corresponding leg seams.

The pattern pieces are then “cleaned” of all guidelines and the black background is applied. The two pattern pieces are then duplicated and flipped horizontally to have all four printable pieces. Note that seam allowances have not been added except at darts. It is recommended to add additional “wiggle room” in your background print or color.

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F i g u r e 9 . 5   The background of the pattern is filled in for a finished look.

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F i g u r e 9 . 6   The image of front and back pattern pieces has been doubled and “flipped” horizontally in order to print all four leg pieces for a complete set of trousers.

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Designer Process: Roberto Andrade, Scenic and Props Designer What’sWrong with Mr. White?, directed by Jim Buglewicz, East Los Angeles ­College, part of the Theatre in the Community Program, Fall 2017

F i g u r e 9 . 7   Aerial shot of scenic design for What’s Wrong with Mr. White? designed by Roberto Andrade.

F i g u r e 9 . 8   Image of full-scale digital layout of scenic elements.

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F i g u r e 9 . 9   Printed digitally designed scenic pieces in the East Los Angeles College print room.

The challenge: creating a scenic and properties design relying totally on existing resources that can travel and adapt to various performance spaces. What was the rationale/motivation for choosing to design and print ­textiles? “The owner of the store is the protagonist Mr. White who’s been in business since 1968. I wanted to show the progression of the store by placing lines and shapes in places that best displayed the environment, then by using colors and textures I filled up the rest of the space, keeping in mind throughout the entire design process the entire set with supporting props had to travel in a van with student actors, their costumes and technical support. With the combination of a ‘hard set’ that folded like an accordion and a fabric backdrop that can be rolled up, we were able to achieve more space during performance or reduce the size of the set due to lack of available space in different places of the city. When it came to deciding to print on fabric,

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it was the best choice! It’s lightweight and can be manipulated with ease allowing us to display anything we drew up also with a zero dollar budget. We only had in-house materials available because East Los Angeles College has a printer in-house.” Any challenges or epiphanies in the process? “One of the challenges I faced while designing was the size. The backdrop had to be printed into three separate panels at almost 3 feet by 8 feet with the possibility of the image stretching and becoming pixelated, so there were several test prints in different scales. When I had the correct size it was just a matter of overlocking the edges, matching up the lines, and stitching the seams.”

PRINT, CUT, AND SEW While it may seem counterintuitive to spend time drafting patterns digitally, when tried and true paper pattern drafting produces a ready to use pattern piece, many designers and drapers are turning to custom print and sew pieces that eliminate pesky pattern matching in the pattern layout phase and allow for a seamless, streamlined design. Subtraction cutting is one method of eliminating waste and working with patterns to create a print and sew digital textile. Many garments are created from flat pattern making methods, or from draping methods, but subtraction cutting makes the most of the negative spaces that can be opened up in fabric and blurs the lines of traditional pattern making and draping techniques. Shapes are created by removing fabric from the initial piece of fabric to create room for the body rather than adding pieces. For instance, rather than using a pattern piece to create a bodice, the bodice is created by removing areas of fabric that are immediately surrounding the shapes of the bodice. Resources to learn more about subtraction cutting can be found at the back of this book.

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Designer Process: Brianna Plummer, Costume and Textile Designer (Assistant Professor Fashion and Textile Technology Suny at Buffalo College, NY; Costumer Designer and Draper, The Company Theatre, Norwell, MA; Doctoral Candidate Iowa State University)

F i g u r e 9 . 1 0  Back detail of a bodice d ­ igitally designed and constructed using the ­subtraction method, Brianna Plummer.

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F i g u r e 9 . 1 1   Costume detail of digitally designed textiles which have been patterned and constructed by Brianna Plummer.

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This costume was created at the Textile and Form Workshop at Iowa State University in June 2017. The week-long residency workshop brought together digital textile printing with subtraction cutting. For Brianna, the list of reasons to use digital textile production keeps growing: “The more I use Digital Textile Production the more reasons I find to use it. For me as an educator/practitioner researcher, my reasons vary. As a costume designer and from a practicality perspective just being able to print period appropriate textile prints is key. As a textile design professor and from a functional perspective understanding the emerging technologies is paramount for my students and me. Finally, as a design researcher the new language that is being developed as digital capabilities are explored is the main reason. The possibilities are vast.”

Design and Production Process: Travis Halsey, Halsey Onstage Beauty and the Beast, Omaha Community Playhouse, 2017

F i g u r e 9 . 1 2   This white paper pattern shows a full size mock-up pattern piece for the Wardrobe costume. It has been overlayed with custom laser-cut foam to add dimension.

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F i g u r e 9 . 1 3   The finished Wardrobe Cabinet ­character.

“We do all of our print design in full size, so a 1:1 ratio. We use Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and similar programs. Once pattern pieces are fully decorated in the computer we add our seam allowances, and then adjust our graininess. After that we add custom-colored seam allowances in the computer, then arrange goods on our final prints. For stretch wear we also do all of our sizing in the computer so it’s a great time saver and we do all of our designs as piece-specific, so there is never yardage, only cut and sew goods.”

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F i g u r e 9 . 1 4   “Chip” the Teacup.

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F i g u r e 9 . 1 5   “Be Our Guest” Dancers in fully digitally created costumes.

“Everything in all of these images started as completely white fabric. We use lots of highlight and shadow to make things look like they have more dimension, even when they are flat. We combine photos we’ve taken, i­ mages we create from scratch, and also images purchased from companies like Shutterstock and Shutterfly. It’s taken over a decade to streamline this ­process;

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at the start it was very expensive in terms of time, but now several of us in my studio are super-fast with all the steps.”

Designer Process: Amber Marisa Cook, Scenic Designer An American Hero, New York Musical Festival, directed by Michael McIntosh, technical director Christopher George Haug, 2018 The challenges of reimagining a new musical that you’ve previously d­ esigned less than one year ago, with the same production team, for a much smaller venue on the other side of the country, with a tight budget, and have it pack in to a small space for performances in a prominent repertory setting are challenges all too familiar to the creative team of An American Hero. The Word War II era musical written by Kenneth L. Stilson, with music by Cody Cole, was chosen to be performed at the New York Musical Festival. The scenic design is reimagined from a large-scale set in a 980-seat theatre with realistic textures and structures that morphed into the show’s multiple locations, into a design that represents the show’s themes with a more ephemeral approach, since large scale was no longer an option. Seven rolling flat panels, each measuring 6 feet by 3 feet 6 inches, will be arranged to create a panoramic mural which can be moved around the space to isolate playing areas. Each panel is reversible to indicate specific locations and ideas utilizing digitally manipulated open source imagery. Due to time and labor constraints, digitally collaging the mural became a way of achieving the look and feel of the era in a much quicker manner. Each panel was laid out and collaged in Photoshop as a full-scale image (1:1), and identical color filters were applied to all seven panels to ensure a more cohesive color tone, regardless of computer screen resolution. Once what would typically be paint elevations were laid out, they were sent directly to an offsite printer, Spoonflower, to be printed on Eco-canvas in full scale. Due to the large scale and cost of the project, test swatches were expedited and the turnaround time made printing a much more cost-effective way to achieve the vintage feel and level of detail required for the design.

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F i g u r e 9 . 1 6   Full scale digital “paintings” are ready to be cut and sewn into rolling flat panels.

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F i g u r e 9 . 1 7   A digital layout of the fronts and backs of the panels composing the backdrop for An American Hero.

EXERCISES 1. Using an existing pattern, trace out a lace pattern that could be printed in full scale for a set of collar and cuffs. 2. Design a stomacher for a 17th-century dress with heavy detail. What details might be printed versus 3D texture or appliqué?

C H A P T E R

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Final Dress Tips and Tricks for a Smooth Process

C h a p t e r c o v e r 1 0   A custom designed stripe on bamboo cotton, for Cabaret at Florida State University, 2014. (textile and costume design by Bryant Villasana).

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Designer Process: Costume Designer Charlene Gross, Graphic Designer/Costume Crafts Beatrice Collins The Music Man, Ohio Light Opera, 2017 (Harold Hill’s Band Jacket)

F i g u r e 1 0 . 1   Ted Christopher as Harold Hill in a reversible jacket made with custom printed textiles.

F i g u r e 1 0 . 2   Costume rendering of Harold Hill by Charlene Gross.

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What was the rationale/motivation for choosing to design and print textiles versus using something ready made? “Harold Hill’s jacket has the need to be reversible. Outwardly it looks like a normal, run-of-the-mill, turn-of-the-century white linen suit jacket. While he is peddling his wares, he turns the jacket inside out to become a band jacket, allowing him an easy transition from the average-Joe Salesman to an inspirational leader of the children, leading them out of all things evil towards music. In the previous production of The Music Man I designed at OLO, I made a similar jacket. In the former incarnation, we made an off-white cotton jacket lining that I decorated and put into a store-bought blazer. It used buttons, trim, and eventually to make the “lining” or band jacket flat enough so the reveal wasn’t ruined, we had to use puffy paint to decorate and represent the braiding. While effective, this version never had the graphic appeal nor did the paint hold up to dry cleaning and had to be re-applied after two dry ­cleanings. For the 2017 production, the director requested a similar jacket (but this time for a different series of scenes, not just the finale) and I immediately thought of creating the image and digitally printing the inside/band jacket. By designing the textiles to be printed, the fabric was just fabric and did not require an additional trim, buttons ... basically the bulk was eliminated and the impact of the color, design, and overall graphic nature of a band jacket did not need to be compromised. By printing exactly what I wanted I could match the other band jackets as much (or as little) as I wished and I was able to keep the band jacket flat and allow the inside of the coat to simply be a lining and still be as graphically bold as it needed to be for the stage impact. Taking digital photos of the actual cording, flat trim, frogs, buttons, etc. that I wanted to put on the coat allowed me to do just that—collage those individual pieces into one image to make up the coat. For instance, instead of just drawing a “gold” line in Photoshop to represent the gold flat trim, I took a photo of the gold trim I wanted on Harold’s jacket and used that image to create the trim line. We then created all the sections of the coat that needed decoration (cuff, collar, and center front of the body), and we were able to take these sections and arrange them on

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the Photoshop page to fit within a 1 yard perimeter. We used the performer’s measurements and the actual jacket’s measurements to determine the length of the digital images we created. In other words, we measured everything at least a half dozen times so when the printed fabric arrived from Spoonflower, it would be the correct length and width to go directly onto the jacket.” What would you do differently if you could? “Pattern piece layout: We forgot to leave enough room center front to cut the piece down center front and also have seam allowance.

F i g u r e 1 0 . 3   Full-scale digital layout of printed jacket pattern pieces with work by Stephanie Ann Eubank and Beatrice Collins.

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Bleed room and ease: The length and width of the cuffs were spot on and fit perfectly. I would have liked to leave additional ‘bleed’ room, if you will, of the red so we could have adjusted the cuffs and other edges a little more easily to compensate for fabric/garment stretch, especially when a garment may be going through multiple hands and in a hurry. I think this would have allowed a less skilled stitcher (or anyone for that matter) to have a little ease and not have to perfectly align everything in order to avoid a hard edge and white fabric where the red pattern pieces end. Mock-ups still help: Because it was a reversible jacket, I wish I would have taken the time to lay out the design on the collar in a mock-up. Like many built garments, a mock-up helps a designer make depictions and changes in a cheaper, earlier version and often saves time and money in the long run. In this case, I had a vision for the collar without thinking through the collar fold and compensations I would need because the jacket was reversible. I also needed to take into consideration what Harold Hill was wearing under the jacket as he reversed it. I designed a mandarin/stand collar design for the band jacket, forgetting he was wearing a bow tie. The solution was easy enough, but it would have saved us time by designing one less portion of the coat digitally. Beatrice and I worked closely together looking and choosing jacket layouts, trims, buttons and the like. She would do a digital draft, much like a mock-up, and I would make corrections, offer suggestions and found some of her discoveries a delight. It was her idea to photograph the trim after I suggested photographing buttons, something that seems obvious now but wasn’t at the time. We would then look at the measurements on the screen and compare them to the jacket that we were adding this “lining” to help determine scaling for the print. I reinforced the idea of mirroring the cuffs even if they appeared symmetrical and laying them out in the most conservative way on the image, just like one would lay out pattern pieces on a “real” piece of fabric. So when the real piece of fabric came, we would only have to print the minimum amount of 1 yard.”

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PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT As with any creative endeavor, there are usually unforeseen challenges that may occur in the process. While it is impossible to guarantee a flawless and smooth process, there are steps that can be taken to avoid some common pitfalls in digital textile design.

SCREEN RESOLUTION: WHAT YOU SEE ISN’T ALWAYS WHAT YOU GET One of the advantages to creating your own textile design is the satisfaction of getting exactly what you need to tell your story. It can be difficult to determine precisely what colors will look like as screen resolutions and a variety of factors in the printing process may impact the look of your finished fabric or paper. Your design displayed on a computer screen will not look exactly the same as the version you print with paper on your printer or with a ­commercial fabric printer because the technology and print mediums (ink, fabric vs. paper or screenshot) are different and a variety of factors such as screen resolution, ink saturation, print media, etc. are all variables in the translation of a digital image to a physical tactile state.

SOME VISUAL CONSIDERATIONS 1. Inks may bleed and darker, more vibrant or saturated colors may not appear as bright or as saturated in person as on screen. True black is very hard to achieve—the printing process usually starts with white or light color fabric since it is an additive process; in other words, you cannot lighten or subtract fabric color saturation by printing on it, you can only add to what already exists. 2. Just as subtle details tend to get lost on stage due to stage lighting, distance from the audience, and movement, highly detailed patterns are best produced with high-contrast color to ensure that maximum impact can be seen. Grainline, nap, and subtle texture of fabrics such as twills or even micro-suedes can affect the final color of a printed piece and the amount of visible detail.

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F i g u r e 1 0 . 4  Two sample prints of the same digital file from the same third-party printer show the ­differences in color saturation and texture depending on type of fabric and its material.

PREVENTATIVE MEASURE: SWATCHES AND TEST PRINTS Test swatches are incredibly important, especially to novice designers. A tactile sample of the final product always does more to allay fears than screenshots or renderings will. Most commercial print companies will offer test swatches of your final product at a nominal or no cost, so turnaround time is the only consideration in this safeguard.

ON CURATING YOUR OWN IMAGES COPYRIGHT LAWS When you are sourcing images, it seems only natural that you might pull resources from the internet, or scan images in to make digital copy to ­manipulate. It is your responsibility as the designer to understand and obtain the permissions you may or may not need to use third-party images in your

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t­extile design. There are a few things to note about using/manipulating images for your textile design, although this is by no means an exhaustive list, and you should do further research should you have questions about the legal and ethical use of imagery you source for your design. • Just because an image can be found and downloaded from the internet does not mean that you may use the image without receiving permission or a license granting you rights to use it. • Most public domain and images with copyright are acceptable to use for personal use but not for commercial or sale use unless it is explicitly stated otherwise. • Drawing your own designs that reference or contain your representation of a third party’s intellectual/creative property may still be a violation of copyright laws. • Simply changing 10% of someone’s artwork or design does not make it yours to use. It is a common misconception that by digitally or otherwise changing 10% of a third-party design it becomes your own since it is no longer identical to the original.

HELPFUL HINTS To avoid a cartoonish or flat-feeling look with scanned or photographed pieces of trim and texture on your digital textile, there are several easy ways to enhance your images for a more realistic feel that will not detract from the design of the production. 1. Consider your light source. It is easy to digitally “flip” and “rotate” your images so that any pre-existing highlights and shadows remain consistent in direction. 2. Add depth and dimension. By adding a “drop-shadow” or “inner glow” to your images in Photoshop or similar programs, you can add shadow and depth, creating the illusion of physical depth to a 2D image. Similarly, rendering by hand a light watercolored shadow that is carefully placed can help create a feeling of depth and dimensionality.

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3. Steady and straight are best. By choosing or capturing images to manipulate that are taken from a direct overhead view, you can avoid time spent trying to carefully match edges or true up straight lines. When scanning trims or fabrics, be sure to get as straight and linear of a scan as possible as it will save you time editing and provide a more accurate way of determining a light source. 4. Subtle visual texture is your friend. By adding a subtle pattern or texture to your background, you will create further depth and dimension to a piece, because even though it may not read to an audience member, it will break up the flat plane of color on the textile.

REMEMBER, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT Even as technology continues to evolve, there are some constants in this world, one of which is the beauty of live performance. As our resources for designing and building materials change, our evolution as entertainment designers and technicians is absolutely necessary in order to continue to create our best work, otherwise compromise becomes king. Like any soft skill, digital textile design requires patience and practice to varying degrees; one cannot become a master without repetition, any more than an actor can deliver a perfect performance at the first rehearsal. Ultimately, the digital world has gifted designers with a very gratifying new tool kit whose possibilities are as endless as the stories we continue to help tell.

Glossary

Custom designed textile being printed for Tartuffe at East Los Angeles College (textile and Costume Design by Jessica Hansen, 2016).

acetate/rayon acetate: A lightweight synthetic filament, yarn, or fabric made from cellulose that is very sensitive to high temperatures. acrylic: A synthetic polymer in fiber form that is used in a variety of surface coatings. additive process: A treatment where dyes or inks are combined or added to existing textiles to achieve a different color, pattern, or texture. Angora: The fur of an Angora rabbit or fabric made from the fur of an Angora rabbit. argyle: A knit pattern composed of geometric shapes, usually varicolored diamonds, or socks knit with the pattern of the same name.

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barathea: A twill without a distinct pattern, usually with a finely textured nubbly feel. Often silk or silk and wool blends, this fabric is typically used for high-end suiting or evening wear. batik: A dyeing technique using a wax resist to create patterns or motifs that has its origins in Indonesia. bias/true bias: The 45-degree angle to the lengthwise grainline and cross grain. The bias of fabric will have stretch even when a fabric does not inherently have stretch properties. blend: In fabric or yarn this refers to a mixed fiber content of two or more types of fiber. broadcloth: A dense, lightweight, plain woven cloth usually composed of natural fibers, typically used in shirting. brocade: A woven fabric that uses a supplementary weft to weave in pattern. Brocades often have metallic thread content. Brocade differs from damask in that it is not reversible in nature. buckram: A stiff, loosely woven, coarse cloth of linen or cotton that is coated with a resin or starch used in millinery and interfacing. buffalo plaid: A large-scale block plaid usually formed by the intersection of two different colored yarns. Traditionally red and black the fabric is typically cotton, wool, or flannel. burlap: The North American term for a roughly woven fabric often used for industrial purposes. The equivalent term in the UK is hessian. calico: An inexpensive, plain-woven textile made from unbleached and sometimes partially processed cotton. Alternatively, it is used to describe the pattern on the cloth of the same name, usually featuring smaller sized repetitions of flowers, paisleys, or other organic shapes. The origins of calico pattern can be traced to 11th-century India. canvas: A very durable, plain woven fabric that comes in various weights, used for making items such as outerwear, signs, sails, tents, or as a painting surface when stretched over a frame. cashmere: Wool from a cashmere goat. cellulose: A fiber derived from beechwood cellulose that is processed to make cellophane, rayon, and modal.

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chiffon: A sheer, lightweight fabric made from silk, rayon, or polyester. China silk: A lightweight, sheer, plain-weave fabric that is sometimes referred to as habutai/habotai, or pongee. It is one of the less expensive and more commonly available types of silk fabric and comes in various weights. chintz: A calico pattern comprised of flowers typically on a small scale, which originated in Eastern Europe. colorfast (colourfast): The ability of a textile to maintain its color through laundering/cleaning without fading or running. concept statement: A brief statement of 250–300 words that does not summarize the play, but rather indicates which motifs, themes, or arguments a production is highlighting and how the design directly enhances or reinforces these ideas. corduroy: A cotton fabric with a thick rib-like pile called cords. The width or thickness of the corduroy is called its wale. cotton: A natural, plant-based, soft, fluffy, usually white material comprising twisted hairs surrounding the seeds of a tall plant of the same name. Thread, yarn, and cloth can all be made of cotton. crepe: A silky textured fabric that typically has a slightly textured or crimped side. damask: A firm, lustrous fabric usually made of linen, cotton, silk, or rayon that is decorated with flat patterns in a satin weave on a jacquard loom, and as a result the fabric is reversible. Originally hand-woven and usually composed of silk, damask is typically associated with luxury fabrics. denim: A medium-weight to heavyweight twill fabric typically woven with cotton or a cotton blend of fibers. DPI (dots per inch)/PPI (pixels per inch): the physical density of dots in a printed image. dupioni: A slightly bumpy or slubbed textile woven with silk or synthetic silk-like material. Dupioni may have an iridescent color quality to it if woven with contrasting warp and weft colors. dye lot: Referring to the total batch or amount of fabric dyed at one time in one vat. A number may be assigned to distinguish between lots as subtle differences can occur between batches.

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elements of design: The visual aspect that we see in the design. For the purposes of textile creation, we can define these elements as line, shape, color, texture, space, and proportion. embroidery: A form of decorative needlework in which strands of thread, yarn, or another material are stitched onto another piece of fabric or material to form designs, pictures, or motifs. Hand embroidery dates to the ancient world, though in the modern world embroidery can also be done by machine. faille: A lightweight, woven fabric that is somewhat shiny and has a lightly ribbed texture on the weft, made of tightly woven silk, cotton, or rayon. The texture is a wider rib than grossgrain, and narrower than ottoman. fashion fabric: The fabric intended for the final outer layer of the garment; the fabric the finished garment will be fashioned from. felt: A non-woven fabric made by matting, pressing, and condensing fibers. The process of making felt is called felting. fiber: A thread-like substance that is significantly longer than it is wide, which is used to manufacture other materials. A fiber may be natural or synthetic. filament: A single fibril of natural (silk) or synthetic textile fiber, of indefinite length, used in multitude to create a piece of fabric. fishnet: A material with an open, usually diamond-shaped woven pattern resembling a fisherman’s net that can be found in a variety of scales, typically used for performance wear and leg coverings. flannel: A soft, lightweight fabric with a slight nap on one side, usually made of wool, cotton, or a blend commonly used for jackets, shirts, sleepwear, undergarments, or bedding. flax: The fiber of the plant by the same name which is of the genus Linum. Flax fibers are woven into linen yarn or thread to be made into woven material. gabardine: A fabric woven as a warp-faced steep or regular twill, with a prominent diagonal rib on the face and smooth surface on the back. Traditionally made from worsted wool, but may also be cotton, texturized polyester, or a blend, it is commonly used in suiting.

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gingham: A lightweight cotton cloth with a striped or more commonly small box pattern, usually woven with white and another contrasting color. gossamer: A thin, filmy, delicate fabric, with an inconsistent thickness, named after the effect of layered cobwebs. grainline: The length of the fabric that runs parallel to the selvage edge of the fabric. Cross grain is the length of fabric running perpendicular to the selvage edge or parallel with the weft. grossgrain: A heavy, ribbed fabric or ribbon that is typically made from silk, rayon, or nylon and woven using a taffeta weave with a heavy weft which creates the ribbed pattern. habutai/habotai: See China silk. Hand: The actual feel/touch of a textile and how it drapes or moves. hessian: The UK term for a roughly woven fabric often used for industrial purposes. The equivalent term in North America is burlap. houndstooth: Also known as dog’s tooth or pied-de-poule, it is a two-tone pattern consisting of an abstract shape with four points that resembles a canine’s tooth. The most common color combination is black and white. ikat: A resist dyeing technique that originated in Indonesia, with resulting fabric by the same name, the weft or warp threads are tie-dyed prior to weaving, or in the instance of both, a double ikat is created. jersey: A typically lightweight, stretchy knit fabric with pile on one side, originally made from wool, now typically made of cotton, wool, or synthetic fibers. Commonly used to make t-shirts and other leisure wear. knit: A textile or garment made by interlocking loops of wool, cotton, or other yarn or threads using knitting needles or a machine. minkie/minky: A 100% polyester fabric made to resemble mink fur, it has a soft, short pile and may have patterns embossed into it. Typically used for quilt/blanket backing, stuffed animals, and baby accessories. modal: A type of rayon, it is a cellulose fiber typically made from beech trees. It has a very soft hand and is often used in pajamas, towels, and bedsheets.

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nap: The direction in which small fibers or hairs lie on a fabric with pile such as velvet, velveteen, or corduroy. Nap can usually be felt and seen by running a hand across the fabric. nylon: A silky thermoplastic material made by combining various elastic synthetic polyamide materials. Nylon can be formed into fibers, filaments, or sheets, which can then be woven into textiles. It is a synthetic fabric that retains some organic properties such as its ability to be dyed with a less saturated result using union dyes. ottoman: Turkish in origin, this woven fabric has a ribbed effect that is created by weaving a finer silk or manufactured warp yarn with a heavier filler yarn, usually made of cotton, wool, rayon or waste yarn that is completely covered by the warp yarn. Typically used in formal dress such as legal or academic gowns. output measurement: A measurement used to quantify the transfer of a 2D digital medium into a physical object (textile). paisley: A teardrop-shaped motif that may incorporate floral themes, it is Indo-Persian in nature and can be traced back as far as 1700 bce. Named for the town of Paisley, Scotland, this pattern can be found in textiles from various European, Asian, Near East, and Middle Eastern countries. pile: Textiles that have a series of raised strands or loops of hair, thread, or yarn, such as carpet, velvet, or corduroy. pixels: Digital dots that comprise a digital image but have no set dimension, and may be printed at various sizes. plaid: A pattern woven into or printed onto cloth of stripes with different widths that cross each other to form squares. Tartan is a synonym for plaid, though it is a specific style of plaid originating in Scotland with various color and weaving patterns used to delineate clans or families in Scotland. pongee: See China silk. porosity: A contributing factor in how breathable a fabric is as well as how well it absorbs liquids. The ratio of the volume of all the pores in a material to the volume of the whole. principles of design: Terms used to relate the elements of design together and to describe how they visually appear in regards to one another both on

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the textile and on stage. The principles of design as they pertain to textiles are balance, unity, variety, harmony, movement, rhythm, and emphasis. rayon: Any of several synthetic textile fibers that results from forcing a cellulose solution through fine holes and solidifying the resulting filaments. It is versatile and is widely claimed to have the same comfort properties as natural fibers; it can imitate the feel and texture of silk, wool, cotton and linen. The fibers are easily dyed in a wide range of colors, and while the fabric is very porous, it is also fragile when wet and prone to shrinkage. selvage/selvedge: The self-finished edge of fabric that keeps the textile from fraying or unraveling. The selvage edge is an end product of how the fabric is created. The selvage is created by the weft thread being looped around the warp at the end of each row of weaving. Knit fabrics traditionally have a selvage edge that has structural integrity but may not be bound or cast off in the same manner as loom-woven fabrics. spandex: A synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity that is made from a polyurethane fiber. Lycra is the brand name for this fabric, which can expand to nearly 600% of its size, and then snap back in place. Despite being a synthetic fabric, it is breathable, wicks moisture, and dries quickly making it popular for athletic wear and undergarments. staple/staple fiber: A fiber of a specific length, which must be blended or felted together to produce a textile. synthetic: Produced, relating to, or the result of a chemical or biochemical processing or synthesis; a fabric or fiber that is produced artificially but may replicate natural fibers or fabrics. tartan (plaid): A specific style of plaid originating in Scotland with various color and weaving patterns used to delineate clans or families in Scotland. A tartan must have the exact same pattern of lines and colors repeated on the warp and weft. ticking: A cotton or linen textile, tightly woven sometimes with a twill weave for durability, and used to cover mattresses and bed pillows. Ticking often has a striped pattern in blue, red, or black, woven into an unbleached or white background. toile: Derived from toile de Jouy, which literally means “cloth from Jouy,” named for a town in France where it originated, it refers to a linen

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cloth or canvas that is painted on as well as the style of print or pattern found on it. Toile prints are typically pastoral and complex, with floral, fauna, and people, and scattered across the textile in a broad half-drop repeat. twill: A fabric composed of and named for one of the basic weave structures in which the filling threads are woven over and under two or more warp yarns, with a “step” or offset producing a characteristic diagonal pattern. weft: The crosswise, typically vertical threads on a loom which the other threads (warp) are passed over and under to make cloth. woven: Referring to cloth formed by weaving two threads or yarns, it will stretch diagonally on the bias directions, unless the threads are elastic. Woven cloth usually frays at the edges, requiring a finishing technique such as serging or pinking.

Resources BOOKS Adobe Photoshop for Textile Design (Origin, Inc.) Frederick L. Chipkin Digital Fashion Print with Photoshop and Illustrator (Batsford) Kevin Tallon Digital Jacquard Design (Bloomsbury Academic) Julie Holycke Digital Textile Design (Laurence King Publishing) Melanie Bowles and Ceri Isaac Folk Designs for Artists and Craftsmen (Dover Press) Ed Sibbett Jr. A Handbook for Designers (Norton) Marypaul Yates Licensing Art & Design (Allworth Press) Caryn Leland Mastering the Art of Fabric Printing and Design: Techniques, Tutorials, and Inspiration (Chronicle) Laurie Wisbrun Peasant Designs for Artists and Craftsmen (Dover Press) Ed Sibbett Jr. Principles of Pattern Design (Dover Press)

1 4 0          R esources

Richard M. Proctor Ready-to-Use Floral Borders (Dover Press) Ed Sibbett Jr. Spoonflower: DIY Fabric, Wallpaper and Wrapping Paper Taobori and Chang Stewart

MAGAZINES Selvedge www.selvedge.org Surface Design Journal www.surfacedesign.org Textile Forum www.textileforum.com World Textile Information Network www.wtin.com

USEFUL/INFORMATIONAL WEBSITES Interactive Weaver—Weave Your Own Tartan https://houseoftartan.co.uk.interactive/weaver Patternizer—Stripe Generator Tool http://patternizer.com Plaid Maker www.plaidmaker.com Print and Pattern http://printpattern.blogspot.com Subtraction Cutting by Julian Roberts (with free instruction download) https://subtractioncutting.tumblr.com

R esources        1 4 1

Tartan Designer www.tartanmaker.com Tyranny of Style www.tyrannyofstyle.com Wikimedia Commons (open source images) https://commons.wikimedia.org

THIRD-PARTY PRINTING COMPANIES Bags of Love (UK) www.bagsoflove.com CADFab Digital https://cadfabdigital.com Contrado (UK) www.contrado.co.uk/fabrics Design 2 Print http://design2printnyc.com Fabric on Demand www.fabricondemand.com Halsey Onstage (designers available, large volume) www.halseyonstage.com Printhead Studio at Rose Brand www.rosebrand.com Spoonflower www.spoonflower.com

Index A

Acosta, Cherie Stoddard 16, 18–19 Adobe Illustrator 16, 44, 65, 68, 115 Adobe Photoshop 46, 65, 82–86, 93, 118, 128 An American Hero 101, 118–120 Andrade, Roberto 109–111 appliqué, digital 87–96 Argonautica 91–92

B

Barker, Norman 18 basic repeat patterns 68–71 Beauty and the Beast 114–118 bias, fabric 58 brightness/contrast, adjusting 45 Buglewicz, James 62, 109

C

digital components 42–44 digital editing 44–47 digital textile printing: defined 33; ink vs. dye 33–36 direct to fabric printing 34–36 directionality 56 directors 10 disease, images of 17, 18–19 Dracula 21–23, 41 drape/hand 57 drop shadows 45, 98, 128 dye sublimation printing 34–36

E

editing, digital 44–47 elements of design 26–27, 29 embroidery 33, 87–96 emotional prints 29 ethnic motifs 53–54 Evolution (fabric printing software) 65

Cabaret 121 character, designing the 4, 16, 46–49, 62 Cloud 9 31 Collins, Beatrice 122–125 color, and design 4, 26–27; hue 45; palettes 10, 29; saturation 15–16, 45, 126; and screen resolution 126 communication 5 composition 56–57 concept statements 10–11, 12 contrast 45 conversational motifs 54, 70 Cook, Amber Marisa 12, 22–23, 46–47, 118–120 copyright laws 127–128 cut-and-sew projects 102–108

F

D

geometric motifs 52 grain, fabric 58 Griffin, Hannah 44–45 Gross, Charlene 122–125

design teams 3–4, 10 diamond/ogee patterns 71, 79–82

fabric, characteristics and uses 61–62 fabric, physical attributes 57–59 fabric printers 65 fabric production, basic types 38–39 faux stitching 83 felting 38 fibers, types of 37 file types (digital) 43; jpeg 16, 43, 65 filters 45–46 floral motifs 46–49, 53, 70, 105–108 fusing/bonding 39

G

1 4 4          I n d e x

H

half-drop pattern 69, 72–75 Halsey, Travis 87, 114–118 hand block printing 32 Hansen, Jessica 15–16, 62–65, 131 “Hidden Beauty” (dance) 16–20 Houston, Mary G. 92

P

Iacobozio-Donahue, Christine 18 Inez Rivera, Victoria 15–16 inkjet printing 33–34 Inkscape 44, 68

pattern/motifs: hand/digital 68–86; surface work 52–57 Perrotine printing 32 photography 15, 46, 123 physical attributes, fabric 57–59 pixels 42–43 plaid pattern 71, 82–86 Plummer, Brianna 112–114 principles of design 28–29 production scale 28–29 production timelines 3–5, 13 Prokop, Travis 18 prop design see scenic design

J

R

I

jewelry images 97–99

K

knitting 38

L

lace 39 LaTorre, Mollie 31 layout density 56 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 51, 59–61

M

Measure For Measure 15–16 A Midsummer Night’s Dream 12–15 mood boards 4 Morris, Jenn 5–7 motifs see floral motifs; pattern/motifs Muscha, Colleen 25, 88–91 The Music Man 122–125

N

natural fibers 37 Naversen, Ronald 59

O

ogee/diamond pattern 71, 79–82 ombre motifs 89–90 opacity, fabric 58–59

Ragtime 25 raster images 44 Rausch, Austin M. 91–92 regenerated fibers 37 resolution 42–43 Rivera, Victoria Inez 15–16 roller/machine printing 32

S

scale 56 scanned images 44 scenic design 109–111 screen printing 32 screen resolution 126 selvedge 57 source archives, digital and paper 10 Spoonflower 61, 92, 118, 124 stencil printing 32 Stilson, Kenneth L. 12, 22, 47–48, 118 Stoddard Acosta, Cherie 16, 18–19 storytelling 5, 11, 52 A Streetcar Named Desire 46–49, 67 subtraction cutting 111–114 surface work 51–66 swatches 4, 65, 118, 127 synthetic fibers 37

T

tartan 71 Tartuffe 62–65

I n d e x        1 4 5

test prints see swatches texture 27, 28, 52, 59, 62; and directionality 56; embroidery 33 textured motifs 55 theatrical design: and concept statements 10–11; and production scale/timelines 3–4, 28–29; see also individual productions by name time periods, design for 13, 15, 62 timelines, production 3–5, 13 toss/random pattern 70, 75–79 transfer printing 34 trims, faux 87–96 Tuck Everlasting 5–7 Twelfth Night 88–91 Tysen, Nathan 7

V

vector images 44 Villasana, Bryant 121

W

weaving 33, 38 weight, fabric 59 What’s Wrong with Mr. White 109–111 Williams, Bart 12–13

Z

Zea, Wendi R. 51, 59