# Cloth/fabric masks



## pennywise (Aug 5, 2008)

I have been searching for a while and have come up completely empty. I'm looking for a tutorial and/or patterns for making masks out of fabric. My idea is to use old clothing that would otherwise be thrown out. I have been saving jeans, shirts, anything I can use to make creepy masks. Does anyone have any ideas how to accomplish this?


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## pennywise (Aug 5, 2008)

After spending some more time on YouTube, I think I have an option that may work for me. I will try it out and post my findings later.


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jol:What are you thinking Pennywise? Like a pieced together look, like sewn with the stitches really evident? (think Texas Chainsaw look) Or are you thinking fabric stiffener and material over mask forms? It really depends on what look you want to achieve. You know you can use fabric strips like paper when doing paper mache, that could make some really cool masks. Please post what you make when you make it...I am curious!
(and yes I know what curiosity did to the cat............)


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

I think there is a product sold at JoAnn's Fabric that is used to stiffen fabric. I have see it used to "mold" cheese cloth over a balloon to make a ghost.

found it

http://www.joann.com/search/_stifffy/


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

I use fabric stiffener from Michaels all the time to make hands, and heads for ghosts out of cheesecloth. Use a wig head of skull for a form, and use something for a form release.


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## JustJimAZ (Aug 19, 2010)

Like the others, I'm not entirely certain what effect you are going for. If you want something stiff that will hold its shape well, I suggest starting with one of these:

















You can use hot glue or spray glue to cover the inside with fabric for comfort, and cover the outside with whatever pattern you design from your scraps.

Assuming you want full head coverage, you can still do that using any number of techniques. Probably I would use a head form or even a balloon and glue the cloth to itself in until if covers the head. You can stitch it after.

That seems like the easiest way to me, because I cannot sew well.

I think fabric stiffener is basically starch, and it seems to me it would lose shape pretty quickly while being worn.


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

JustJimAZ said:


> I think fabric stiffener is basically starch, and it seems to me it would lose shape pretty quickly while being worn.


Fabric Stiffener is not starch. The ones available at Micheals are water and glue based, hold their shape well, and can withstand a moderate amount abuse. They do not like moisture. At the other end of the spectrum is paverpol. I have not used it because it is rather pricey, but according to those that have the result is moisture resistant and you can literally cut yourself on the hardened fabric.


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

Heresjohnny is right.

One product I've used before is called Stiffy Glue. You saturate the fabric, wring it out, shape the fabric and let it air dry. It's been over 15 years since I worked with it but I'm sure a fabric or craft store will carry similar products.

During that time, I happened to work developing water based fabric coatings and adhesives so I decided to make it myself. After taking a closer look I found the fabric stiffening product was basically a diluted polyvinyl acetate or better known as white Elmer's Glue. I forget the exact water dilution but I believe I dropped the polymer solids from something like 70% down to like 10%. Otherwise it's too thick.

I wonder if anyone has added RIT to the polymer saturation in this application?


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

I use "Stiffy" and the "Crafters Pick Fabric Stiffener" from Michaels. I thin it with a little bit of water, which makes it easier to work with the cheese cloth. I have also used elmers glue/water. The big difference I found was that the Stiffy did not subdue the glow of RIT treated cheese cloth, but the elmers glue mix did.


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

Thanks for sharing that info HJ. Good to know. 
Just to get that straight, the Elmers glue didn't glow as much as the Stiffy?
Approximately what ratio do you mix in the RIT?


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## JustJimAZ (Aug 19, 2010)

Good to know.


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

Didn't add rit to glue, but used rit treated cloth


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

I have suspicions why one polymer masks the glow over another. It's kinda technical and since I don't work in textile coatings anymore I can't prove it. 

Polymer partcile size can affect opacity and not all vinyl acetates are the same. Without sounding like a smarty pants, there are different types of vinyl acetates along with different types of protective colloids in the polymer structure to help stabilize it. That may be the difference between their light transmittence. For instance, carpenters glue and paper glue are both vinyl acetates but they're different in other ways.

Good info to know just the same!


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

Hm, I will have revisit and pay closer attention to which glue I use. I also would like to try rit water to thin the stiffy with.


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

Yes, RIT, water and glue would be a very nice performance comparison to your normal application. 

You got me thinking. If I could get a hold of different glues i could evaluate their glow performance and dilute them myself along with varying levels of RIT. With the use of a few previously acquired application tools from my old job I could lay a nice 3 mil coating side by side on a white card and compare their fluorescence and intensity under black light.


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