Fabric Drop Ideas

[BSchend]

So in planning for an upcoming production of Titanic, I need a way to be able to do a large fabric drop in black that I can then adorn with some "rivets" to represent the side of the ship during the opening scene.

Size is roughly 19' tall x 34' wide.

Having never really ordered a full size drop or fabric in general, anyone have any recommendations on type to get? Don't really have any place to paint it so it most likely will need to come already black. Also not sure if I have to get several pieces sewn together whether I should do horizontal seems or vertical.

An alternative would be if someone knows of a painted drop for rent that depicts a dock scene (haven't found one in all my google searches).

Thanks for any thoughts or advice. Much more happy working with wood and screws.

 

[manuallyfocused]

Some possible rental options:
https://www.grosh.com/product/wharf-building/?sku=ES0946
https://www.grosh.com/product/fishing-wharf/?sku=S0158
https://charleshstewart.com/product/wharf/

Any of those might work if you have flyspace or wing space to make a ship silhouette piece to put in front of it.

For the purchasing option:
Rose Brand is a great resource for custom sewn drops- they can make you a drop in a variety of black fabrics (considerations will be flame retardancy and translucency, they can advise you on the best choice for your application). In this size, you will most likely not be able to get a seamless drop in black, unless you want something very transparent (scrim or bobbinette material). Vertical seams are best for drops that will be hung in fullness (with ripples, like a main drape curtain). For a flat-sewn drop, which sounds like what you're thinking, horizontal or vertical seams can work equally well depending on the look you are going for. Are you flying this drop in and out, or tracking it on and off? For flying it won't matter, for tracking you might get fewer wrinkles with vertical seams.

Did you have an idea of what you want to use for the rivets? I have used these in the past to hot glue onto wooden setpieces, they would be a little more difficult to secure to a fabric drop but could still work well: https://www.mcmaster.com/#9343k59/=1bwwy22 (they are available in other sizes as well)

Depending on your labor costs, it might be more economical to get a custom-printed drop with your rivets and ship design printed on it, because adorning the whole drop with rivets is going to take a ton of time. Alternatively, if you have budget to hire a scenic artist, starting with a plain black drop and painting a simple suggestion of a ship design on it might be a way to go. If you don't have the space to secure the drop to the floor, you might get away with painting small sections and applying them to your black fabric substrate.

Hope that's helpful, good luck!