 Curtains
AALT
curtain and fabric supplier, TSA is skilled in the
manufacturing techniques required to produce your on stage
theatre cloths and related products. With over 20 years of
experience, TSA has the expertise to professionally
produce any of the following products from our extensive
range of quality fabrics. Our services include free on
site measure and quote, design, manufacture and
installation.
Types of
Curtains
- Front-of-House
curtains are the visual and sound barrier between
the audience and the stage. The most common type is a
bi-parting curtain i.e. a pair of curtains that
overlap and split at the centre of the stage, and open
to the sides
- Valance
is a horizontal masking curtain usually made from the
same material as the front-of-house and is suspended
on a batten in front of the main curtain
- Masking
curtains are used to hide the off-stage areas,
divide the stage, and provide access to the main stage
area. Masking curtains include Borders, Tabs
and Legs (side curtains).
- Borders
are curtains that conceal lights and other
equipment above the stage. Their size is usually
determined by sight lines.
- Intermediate
tabs are used to divide the stage into smaller
sections. They can also be used to hide equipment
and backdrops at the rear of the stage.
- Legs
(side curtains) are used to hide the side of the
stage from the audience's view. They also provide
concealed wings for actors to enter and exit the
stage.
- Backdrops
are usually manufactured from a seamless cotton fabric
and they provide a scenic element to the stage. The
seamless cotton is available in widths of up to 10
metres and is suitable for painting.
- Floor
cloths can be manufactured in seamless 6 oz canvas
or a heavy-duty 12 oz canvas with seams.
- Cycloramas
are backdrops at the rear of the stage and are used
primarily for lighting and projection purposes. They
are generally manufactured from a white seamless
cloth.
- Gauzes
are open weave fabrics that when lit from the front
(and the stage behind the gauze is totally dark), the
gauze appears opaque and renders the scene behind the
gauze invisible. When the scene behind the gauze is
illuminated and the front lights on the gauze are
dimmed, the gauze becomes invisible, revealing the
upstage scene.
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- Sound
Control Curtains.
When the Melbourne Museum installed curtains
manufactured from our 520gsm wool, they
independently tested all the wools available
on the Australian market and found the TSA
wool to have the best sound-controlling
capabilities. Our wool curtains are also used
for concerts at Telstra Dome because of their
durability and sound controlling capabilities.
- Projection
screens are manufactured from a
lightweight, fire-resistant vinyl fabric and
can be made to your specific requirements.
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Curtain
Finish
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 Top
finish. The top of the curtain is
reinforced with heavy duty webbing made from
cotton herringbone, jute or polyester. It is
standard to use eyelets and cotton cord ties
(A) to hang the curtains. For heavy duty
applications, cotton webbing can be used in
conjunction with eyelets and metal snap hooks
(B).
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- Side
Finish.
A 50mm double hem is standard for our
curtains.
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- Leading
edge.
The leading edge of a bi-parting curtain,
particularly a main curtain, can have a
portion of the face fabric turned back. This
prevents the audience from seeing the rear of
the curtain when in movement or during paging.
Standard face back is 200mm for main curtains
and 50-100 mm for tabs.
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| Bottom
Finish |
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- For
curtains with fullness, it is standard to
finish with a 100mm-150mm base chain
pocket. This pocket is reinforced with
canvas and has Velcro tabs to secure the
chain.
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- For
curtains without fullness it is standard to
finish with a 100mm base hem. The base hem
remains open at the sides for easy insertion
of a pipe.
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- Fullness
is additional fabric sewn into a curtain by
means of pleats.
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- 100%
fullness indicates the curtain has been
manufactured with twice as much fabric as
the finished width.
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- 50%
fullness indicates the curtain has been
manufactured from 1 1/2 times
as much fabric as the finished width
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- 0%
Fullness indicates that the curtain is
completely flat, i.e. no pleats.
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