Costume University’s FREE Sample Costuming Tip of the Week (7-29-11)

Posted: August 16, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Acrobatic Costumes, Blacklight Costumes, costume coupons, Costumes & Entertainment, Dance Costumes, Digital Costume Design, kids costumes, Pirate Costumes, Steampunk costumes, western costumes | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Have you ever tried to heat press interfacing to a piece of fabric on to a cut-out garment piece only to have it NOT stick?…Frustrating huh? 

In years past, we here at the Costume University Studio Workroom had problems with heat press-on interfacing or any kind of heat  “press-on” glue products to some fabrics.  No matter how much you try to press it, the heat press-on product would not stick to the intended fabric….until we found the secret.

Thanks to CostumeU staffer “Stitch Rich”, we discovered that heat press-on interfacings and many other heat set products don’t stick to fabrics with “Sizing” on them.

Sizing is a modified starch finish that is applied to a fabric at the mill to make the fabric stiff & flat and look more pressed, so it looks good when you purchase it.

So remember to wash that fabric before you try to stick anything to it, don’t use fabric softener in the washer or dryer…those products are both a form of SIZING!

Any Questions, comments or if you have a Costuming Tip to share, please write me at Ideas@CostumeUniversity.com  We would love to hear from you.

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Skip Stewart
Sr. Writer, Costume University

Digital Costume Designing at the Speed of Light…

Posted: August 1, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Acrobatic Costumes, Blacklight Costumes, costume coupons, Costumes & Entertainment, Dance Costumes, Digital Costume Design, kids costumes, Pirate Costumes, Steampunk costumes, western costumes | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

is a straight talking, “shoot from the hip” conversation about Digital Costume Design by 34 yr. costume design veteran Skip Stewart

The Overture…

I am a professional Costume Designer and I want it now, I want it perfect and I want it world class quality.  I will do what it takes and use what ever means necessary to accomplish these requirements in this “I need it Yesterday” fast-paced industry known as Entertainment & Theater. 

The First Act…

If you are a Design Purist, don’t bother to read this.  This article (and here I go being blunt again) is for the Costume Designer that wants to not only grow professionally & move forward, be time-efficient and produce a superior quality costume design,  but seeks the tools needed to create World Class Costume Design presentations at the speed of Light.  Purists want to design the romantic, traditional “Old School” way with pencil, pen & markers and show all of their human artistic flaws along with the design.   I say: BULL HOCKY!

Think that’s a little tough?  Not really.  Picture this:  Your best customer, a producer for a major entertainment company has been finishing up a new show treatment of a project that he has been working on for 6 months.  He calls you and says he is a month behind getting a presentation to a new venue (Theatre) he is trying to reel in for his next gig…and he needs preliminary sketches by the close of business today, to send with the show treatment before the deadline.  If he doesn’t get them he looses the project and so do you…Are you gonna drag your feet and sit and sketch all the costume rendering he needs with a pencil or are you gonna create exactly what he needs at the speed of light with your digital design ability and save his butt?…I will always opt for the latter and what I reel in is the…READ MORE AT CostumeUniversity.com