Stretch Fabric Conundrum- Please Help! :)

[Burner123]

Howdy,

I am stretching fabric over a wooden frame structure and lighting it up with LED pointed at the fabric from inside the structure. I have found the perfect strecth lycra/spandex in white and now I need to find the same kind of material in 6 ft widths or more. does anyone know of a place that has cheapish lycra/spandex in white? I've called fabrics r us and they only have it in off-white- has anyone lit up off-white stretch fabric before? Or has anyone lit up light colored fabric such as light blue? I'll be getting a nice thick material so the playa doesn't completely take over and make it dull. Thanks!!

proj.jpg

[Ratty]

It doesn't matter what color or fabric you start with. The dust will come. It will be playa colored. Embrace it.

[andy]

I did exactly this for Playuzzle last year. I bought some material at JoAnn fabrics but it was costly, about $7/yd w/ coupon. I found a very cheap place in San Jose (don't know where you live) that has t-shirt fabric at $2/yd that worked well but, as the other poster said, it's a dust magnet and you have to beat away the dust every day or you lose seriously 80% of your light power.

[trilobyte]

Unfortunately, I think you're looking for two mutually exclusive things. Most lycra and stretch fabrics are going to be sold on 55-6 inch rolls. Anything wider is going to require either a big bulk custom order, or be very pricey per yard.

If you know the yardage you're going to need on the wider material, start doing internet searches and calling around. Skip the silly places like JoAnn or Fabrics R Us and go for the specialty houses (places that deal primarily with that kind of material) and wholesalers, and if their site doesn't list it (it probably won't), give them a call.

If it doesn't have to be lycra, my recommendation would be to look for stage supply companies. Backdrops and projection screens are often in much larger widths, and you may be able to find material that's translucent/breathable. Good luck!

[Stickygreen]

these guys are the best thing since sliced bread for stretch fabric. they even have what you're looking for in 10' widths!!!

http://spandexworld.com/

[theCryptofishist]

First google image hit on "stretch fabric conundrum"

[ygmir]

my first read was "stretch fabric condom", looked like it'd be a good thread........well, it would have been.

[theCryptofishist]

Not if you were hoping to stop the spread of AIDS.