@Andy Haefner @AudJ With
velour, be sure to keep
track of knap up Vs. knap down. If you inadvertently end up with knap in both directions, you'll never get them to both appear the same color when lit. Personally, I'm voting with
@AudJ 's 'time machine' camp.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.
@Andy Haefner @AudJ @Van Let me tell you a sad tale of
velour knap and misguided best intentions.
When
Theatre Aquarius built their new space from the foundations up in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1990, they shopped for three quotes on their lined main traveller /
guillotine and all of their black
velour masking. They received pricing from an established company in Montreal, Rose Brand in the U.S. and another established company in England. All three companies submitted fabric samples. To everyone's amazement, the British company had the best prices even after allowing for the greater shipping distance of the very heavy finished
goods.
Included in the initial order were two, full-width, black
velour travellers for mid and
up stage, five borders and five pairs of legs plus the lined main drape, a
flat, light blue, "
cyc", a black
scrim and an off-white
scrim. All of the borders were sewn
flat with pipe pockets on their lower edges, matte black grommets across their tops, black ties and a white tie indicating center. The legs had 2" lower hems with chain pockets on their
up-stage sides raised a couple of inches above floor
level to minimize wear and hang well. All legs and borders were ordered wide enough that they could either be hung
flat with their ends turned back on the rear side
OR be hung to drape with their
fullness spread equally across their widths depending up the look any given set designer would want. A substantial quantity of
matching black
velour fabric was included with the initial order to permit a comparatively local seamstress to create any additional
masking deemed necessary in the future. After the first year's operation, it was decided to order a sixth pair of black
velour legs and the matching fabric was delivered to a local THEATRICAL curtain supplier for their creation. The comparatively local (Read: Toronto) THEATRICAL curtain supplier did reasonable work but used shiny brass grommets and delivered their pair of legs, one with the knap up and the other with the knap down. This rapidly became a huge pain and a running joke. It didn't matter where the sixth legs were hung, one of the pair ALWAYS stood out like a grey sore thumb the instant the work lights were dimmed out and the show lights faded up. I know less than zilch about fabric but I quickly learned the importance of the directionality of the knap when it comes to
velour and theatrical
masking draperies.
Bottom Line: DON'T be caught napping when it comes to your
velour's knap.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.