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Costume Construction
since I designed Ilse's dress to be such a specific shade of periwinkle, I decided It would only be achievable to get that color by dyeing it.
Ilse's dress on stage with swatch
Photo by Daniel Dunsing
Rendering of Ilse's Dress with Swatch
Rendering of Ilse's Dress with Swatch
This is the original cream cotton Dress pulled from stock
I used excess fabric taken from the hem to use as materials for swatches. I did several rounds of swatching using fiber reactive dyes (as documented below) before I found the right Tone.
1st round of dyeing, blue tone
1st round of dyeing, blue tone
1st round of dyeing, purple tone
1st round of dyeing, purple tone
2nd round, finding the right tone
3rd round. wrong depth of shade
4th round, I wanted darker.
5th round. I loved swatch #3!
Using the Calculations from swatch 3 of my 5th round of dyeing, I dipped the dress. These are my results!
Renee Ross in a Fitting with the Dress
Ilse wearing the dress onstage. Photo by Daniel Dunsing
Photo by Daniel Dunsing
Me with the dress on a body form
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