I'm so in LOVE with this musical!
Planning the fabric:
It was a long road for me to come to the realization that I
should just DYE the fabric instead of SCREENPRINT it. Here’s the details of my
long journey:
First, I “inspected” the html code on hamiltonbroadway.com
to grab the 1400 x 842 background image but I knew I really needed something larger. I did
some research to discover the marketing company in charge of promoting Hamilton
(SpotCo) and I sent them and email asking if they could send me a hi-res image
of the orangish-textured background. Then I sent them some more emails and
realized they weren’t going to reply to me.
I then found some generous folks on Reddit who helped me
resize the existing image from the official website. I went ahead and ordered 3
swatches of different fabrics from Spoonflower using that enlarged file, but
when I finally received them I was not happy with the pixels resulting from the
image being stretched across a YARD of fabric!
 |
| The dark bottom left corner of the Hamilton Poster Art |
Then I thought I would try to find a similar (but larger resolution)
image that gave the look and feel of the poster art, and stumbled across a
stock photo website. I bought one image and was not happy with it and so I
purchased another. Then I mirrored that second image and painstakingly edited
every pixel to eliminate errors and ugly spots. This took FOREVER and in the
end, after I uploaded my final YARD-SIZED image to Spoonflower… I chickened
out. I had been doing some research about the lack of fidelity of their black
dye and I was worried the whole print would really lack the rich beauty I was
hoping for. I found a few other websites that were purported to have better
blank ink fidelity but their prices were over $30 a yard and since I’d be
buying 5 yards, I couldn’t justify the cost without feeling confident it would
turn out the way I envisioned it.
So, I started to think about the more cost-effecting option
of dyeing the fabric myself with Dharma Trading Co. dyes. I did some research
about mixing colors and realized I probably wouldn’t be able to achieve the
look I was going for without some assistance. At that point I decided I would
fish around on Etsy for some skilled hand-dyers. Luckily I found Vicki Welsh who
is a professional at this and assured me she could do this ombre effect! We
discussed at length which seven dyes to use on the fabric. See the photo on the left for the five middle
colors out of the seven. We later decided on adding one lighter shade at the top and
one darker shade at the bottom to total the seven colors. |
| Vicki's preview before mailing! |
Whoohoo! Now I’m waiting for my dyed fabric to arrive so I
can get sewing!
Update: The Eagle has LANDED! And it's FANTASTIC!
On the left is the pattern I am using for my #Hamildress. It's a Vintage 1957 reissue and I'll be making the V-neck (View A).
My Work Plan to sew this dress:
Saturday: Flatline Bodice pieces, Cut Arm Facing
UPDATE: Gratuitous pic of the amazing variance in ombre gradient of my fabric!
Want to see more? Here's a link to:
Part 2: Sewing the #Hamildress (in progress!)
Part 3: Something's Coming, Something Good... The #Hamildress! (preview photos)
Part 4: The #Hamildress in Fresno (photoshoot pics!)
Part 5: The #Hamildress in NYC!
