Fabric and material

[Darth Kronos]

I have learned through reliable sources that the Jedi Bindu "light bringer" tunics were made of a fabric called KHADII or more commonly "Indian Homespun". It's the same type of fabric that Ghandi wore. I have done numerous web searches trying to find a bolt or two with absolutely no luck. If anyone could find a source for this rare fabric, it would finally bring balance to the force for all Jedi and Sith alike.

[Voice]

If you're lucky, you can occasionally find homespun at Wal*Mart. The trick is finding it in earth-tones and natural colors. Another good choice is osnaburg (which, again, can sometimes be found at Wal*Mart). It generally seems to be available in the lighter natural shades.

[Dark Helmet]

I have a great local source for fabric, I have to go there in a few days for elastic so I'll check for you. Maryland has a surprising amount of rare and unusual fabrics sold locally, what colors do you need? if I find it I'll pm you with price/shipping etc. it's only a 5 minute drive for me so there is really no hassle to check.

EDIT; there is also the Eastern market in D.C. I can check, I can garantee it will be there but it will take me a long time to get it since I'm in the process of moving. btw, the Eastern market is a historic 3 block section of stores that sell handmade goods from middle eastern families, the quality CAN NOT be matched!!!

[Darth Kronos]

I would personally be dying mine black anyway, unless of course I can find it in black. I just don't understand why I can't seem to find any of the authentic material. I live in Miami Fl. which is; believe it or not, the number 2 fashion center in the US. I didn't know that until I started going to the art institute here in Miami, about 70% of our student body are fashion design majors. I've been asking every one of them that I know I've even attended the annual textiles convention here with no luck. Someone suggested that I use crinkle cotton, but it just seems so fragile and flimsy. I'll look into the wal mart thing though. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Darth Kronos]

I have a great local source for fabric, I have to go there in a few days for elastic so I'll check for you. Maryland has a surprising amount of rare and unusual fabrics sold locally, what colors do you need? if I find it I'll pm you with price/shipping etc. it's only a 5 minute drive for me so there is really no hassle to check.

Thanks Helmet, I'd really appreciate that. I'm looking for black, but I've never really sewn anything from scratch so I'm not exactly sure how much yardage I will need. I'm still debating weather or not to make pants as well as the tunic. I have a pair of Japanese Hakama "kendo/akido" pants that look a lot like Revan's skirt. The problem with Hakama pants is, that they are quite thick, they don't breathe very well; even though they're cotton, and they're kind of stiff so they don't move that great for filming purposes. Hakamas also have an annoyingly hard back plate that can become a little bit uncomfortable after extended wear.
Either way I would definitely appreciate any help in locating the genuine article, so please let the schwartz guide you.

"Cough, Cough, Cough, I can't breathe in this thing"!
LOL :D

"They've gone to plaid"

[Dark Helmet]

LOL! ok, I'll look for some in black, if not then white or blue for re-dyeing. blue is good for dyeing black since the fibers have opened for dark colors, but black should be pretty easy to get. I actually have a few places I can try, but like I said, if all else fails a trip yo D.C will solve it.

[Darth Kronos]

Thanks Helmet.

There is no pressing need to go to ludicrous speed.:D

[Darth Kronos]

By the way, Re-dyeing would not be a problem. I use nothing but very high quality Procion dyes which become molecularly bound to any natural fibers. I did hundreds of custom "stitch dyed" tee shirts back in my "DEAD HEAD" days.

[BlackDOG]

How hard is it to get a good black using DIY dyes? I wanted brown and ended up with biege.....really dark seems to be an issue.....

I used Onasburg fabric as an accent on my first robe......seems to be something like the texture needed. IDK I had a devil of a time finding fabric for my robe, and in the end got it online, and I have not seen it since.

It seems the fabric market is really volatile in price and availability.

I used http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/

bd

[Darth Kronos]

How hard is it to get a good black using DIY dyes? I wanted brown and ended up with biege.....really dark seems to be an issue.....

I used Onasburg fabric as an accent on my first robe......seems to be something like the texture needed. IDK I had a devil of a time finding fabric for my robe, and in the end got it online, and I have not seen it since.

It seems the fabric market is really volatile in price and availability.

I used http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/

bd

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by DIY dyes, but procion dyes are easily found on the net. Any good art supply store should also have them as they are widely used for making batiks. They are also relatively cheap, you can usually find a good full spectrum set of dyes for about 30-40 republic credits. I used to make about 15-20 tee shirts for about 25 dollars minus the cost of the plain white shirts: about $2.00 a piece. I sold each one for 15-25 dollars a pop depending on weather they were stitch dyed or just a simple tie dye. Stitch dying is actually really cool. If you're reasonably creative, you can do faces, skulls, guitars or whatever, and they look a lot more like a real batik without all the molten wax.

Black can be a bit tricky to get it dark enough, If you use Procion dyes though it's not that bad. First of all make sure that you fabric is bone dry before you dip it, let it soak for a couple of minutes, pull it out, let it drip off some of the excess liquid for about 15 minutes and then stick it in the dryer.
Once you take it out of the dryer the color should be completely set. However, it is always best to wash and dry the item by itself just to be sure. By then you'll know weather or not you need to repeat the process. The great thing about Procion dyes is that since it binds itself to the fabric on a molecular level, it is permanent, and I mean permanent. I still have 15-20 year old shirts that were worn constantly, and line dried for years, that are still at least 90% as vibrant in color as they were the day they were made. The only drawback is that the fabric has to be completely 100% natural fiber. One hundred percent cotton, silk, muslin, linen or wool are no problem, but the thicker the fabric the more dye will be needed, and there is also the fact that some of those fabrics are quite expensive. Like I said though, it has to be 100% natural, because any percentage of synthetic material will only dilute the color. 50-50 cotton poly bend + black dye = grey. I hope that helps.

[Dark Helmet]

That stuff is difficult to find, but I did find an online vendor for it, you can get samples to test dyes on too. It's some expensive stuff.....
http://www.aurorasilk.com/fabrics/cotton/index.html
http://www.aurorasilk.com/fabrics/cotton/images/2007_10220167windowpanekhadismall.jpg
I also found what's called monks cloth in a local market, it looks similar to the emperors robes, with a fairly open weave.