How do I straighten a drop?

[Gregi]

We prepaired a new drop for painting by attaching it to the floor along the edges and applying the sizing (watered down latex primer). We probably didn't allow for enough slack in the material. One section in the middle of the bottom edge broke loose from the floor and dried that way. The drop was painted and is now hung up. The section along the bottom is about three inches higher off the floor than the rest of the drop even with the weight of the pipe. The drop is 22' high and 56' long and we are using 1/2" black pipe in the pocket. Any suggestions on how to straighten it out?

 

[Footer]

Might want to try to tack/weight it to the floor and leave it over the weekend. It might stretch, it might not. It all really depends on how much paint you have on the drop.

 

[Dover]

If that does not work you could just sew a new pipe skirt on it so it looks straight.

 

[venuetech]

You could lay it back down and tack square then spray hot water on with a Hudson sprayer. wetting the outer quarters and lightly wet the center area the hope is the outer areas would shrink. no telling how well this might work.

Another strategy could be just to add a 4-5" skirt along the bottom sewn on to make it match the floor. (as Dover suggests)

i would not recommend the use latex paint on a drop. it is formulated to shrink as it drys, and the binder is very heavy. You cannot fold the drop, well you can fold the drop but when you unfold the drop and hang it the folds do not hang out. so you are stuck with a 1200 square foot scenic waffle.

 

[millamber]

My wife is a scenic artist, so I called her and asked. She says the same as venuetech (Tom). Spray the entire drop down with hot water and then pull it square and tack it down. She says you could try to do it while it was hanging and hope the bottom pipe will stretch it back down, but it definitely won't work dry.

 

[BrianWolfe]

I agree, wet it, stretch it, let it dry in the proper shape and you should be okay

 

[Gregi]

Thank you all for the suggestions. We will try and wet it down and stretch it this weekend. We open in one week, I will let you know how it works.

Thanks again,

 

[Gregi]

We managed to straighten the drop while it was still hanging. We took your suggestions and carefully attached 100# of stage weights to the pipe in the pocket in the bottom of the drop. We spread the weight out along the 15' where the drop was raised above the floor. The worst spot was a 4" gap above the floor. We used a sprayer to dampen the entire back of the drop above the area that needed to be re-stretched. We used 2 to 3 quarts of water. We left it hang overnight to dry. It worked like a charm and no runs on the painted side of the drop.

The show opens tonight.
Thanks again.