I have some costume questions & public answer is fine! 1) What makes the Schmere pigments different from paint or even crayons, clean up aside? I need to age some LARP gear, so permanent stuff doesn't scare me, but those Schmere pigments are nice and I'm curious if I should take that plunge. 2) Have you worked with hat tape for resizing hats before? I found a very nice soaker hat at a thrift store that's a size too large. 3) Do you know how to fix water proof boot zippers or have good recs?
Yoooo!
1) The Schmeres are waxier crayons. They are different from paint in that they aren’t as stiff -- with some heat, you can really work them into the fibers of your clothing. They clog up fabric without feeling brittle, but I have noticed that they like to transfer to skin and clothing if you have too much caked on, so be prepared to experiment!
I really recommend having a weathering kit with a variety of substances:
* Wax sticks are good for a sheen and quick application. Use heat to really work in deep. In theory, these can be cleaned, but I wouldn’t expect anything to look pristine again.
* Dyes/stains will permeate cloth really well and is the best way to add perma color without making clothing stiff. Hard to control due to capillary action.
* Paint is easy to mix & control, but floats on top of the cloth, so too much will feel brittle. A cool thing with paint, though, is you can mix in dirts and such for texture.
* Gels and muds (Like PATIN-A) in theory can be cleaned out. They are also great for quick coverage and tend to look pretty authentic. Downside is they may transfer if you get too crazy. Also, I’ve only been able to find these from Germany.
* Powders, fuller’s earth, etc. are great when you need to actually be dusty. You tend to have to reapply and yeah, these can transfer. Experiment setting with hairspray, tossing on top of wet paint, etc.
2) Sorry, have not worked with hat tape.
3) I’m not familiar with waterproof boot zippers. What broke on them? Zippers can be very tough to fix, depending on what went wrong. Sometimes, you can snip off a tooth to get them back on track, or use some pliers to bend a metal zipper head to get it back on.
But zippers get a lot of stress put on them and sometimes a break can’t really be fixed, especially if the zipper is cheap to begin with (I’m looking at you, zippers on body suits) I always dread zipper fixes when they come into my repair booth at conventions. :/