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My first Star Cloth


herman

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Hi,

 

Very new to this I am on a mission to make my very first star cloth, it needs to cover and area of about 10mtr x 20mtr.. (200sq mtrs)

 

What is the best fabric to choose..?

 

I am guessing it has to be a light weight fabric, please let me know what type of fabric I should be looking for, I though of the Molton but it will be heavy. Also will need to think of ways to fix it to the ceiling..

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as above. McDougals (London), J&C Joels (Sowerby Bridge) and Whaley's (Bradford).

 

It will be NDFR most probably. which means it is flame retardant unless it gets wet. (more or less). Any of the above companies will be able to explain the difference between NDFR and DFR.

 

Moderation: I moved this, and the following post from Andy from an old topic you added too - keeping it all in this one

 

(nb the post referred to information further up the thread, but googling 'black molton fabric' should bring up links to those suppliers and others)

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I would guess if you want to see only stars and not the cloth holding them, you will need a black non-reflective fabric. Molton strikes me as a good option, despite the weight. Or black wool serge.

(edited to sort out auto-correct error)

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Are you buying the cloth ready made? I hope so - normal sewing machines cannot manage heavy weight fabrics and the sheer size is amazingly tricky for beginners (and experts without the right machines). If on the other hand you are buying then you have to decide on doing it properly or bodging.

 

Theatrical cloths are always heavy weight - and I assume your cloth is designed to hang on something. For something HUGE - 10 x 20m is going some, even if you run 5m wide and use velcro to join them - the standard way too do star cloths - 10m drops are going to be pretty heavy - and also are a lot more tricky to light as if you use fibre-optics, it will probably require two light sources to do the drop? You then need to line the rear to stop the fibres being torn off. I made one. Two light sources, and fibre optics, and I really needed 3 for the size. It took days for two people punching through the cloth, inserting the ferules and clicking together. I do know I'n not like to do another - and the one I did was around 5m x 12m.

 

 

Buying the parts and doing out yourself is going to be very expensive - well worth checking how much it will cost for ready made ones. Is your time free?

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If I needed a cloth like this I'd buy multiple, smaller starcloths and hang them together. E.g. four 10mx5m cloths, hung in portrait orientation. That means the manual handling etc. is much easier, you can use the individual cloths for smaller jobs, and one section could be sent for repair without needing to ship the entire lot.

 

Pre-made is definitely going to be cheaper and miles easier than the DIY route.

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Thank you for the fantastic feed back and advice, However I do have a brother industrial sewing machine that could handle the sewing part of it, but the weight will be very heavy..

 

The fabric I was planning on using

 

Molton Fine Weave Fire retardant(3 metre) from Fabricuk.com

 

I am now thinking this may be a bigger task than I can handle, it would be better if I can find a ready made one probably a cheap chines import, but it would need to be fire retardant to BS476, would I need to get my own UK fire test certificate,, or if it comes with a cert from china will that be suitable..?

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Having the sewing machine, and being able to use it for component parts that may weigh 50 - 100 KG with perfect accuracy, so that the curtains hang straight, are two very different concepts.

 

For one night to one month you hire these in from a professional hirer, for longer periods you consider buying them in for reuse. You do NOT consider a cheap Chinese cloth as the same as a UK made cloth and you do NOT accept a Chinese certificate of fire resistance -no venue will.

 

Once you have a cloth you have to hang it and feed it power under suitable control

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