Hey, Thanks for posting all the great info about DIY Muslins.

I'm just beginning to build a small portrait studio including some backdrops.
As I try to do this on a shoestring budget, you can only cut corners so much.
I started with 1 strobe, 1 umbrella, 1 reflector and today bought a backdrop stand.

Then "YIKES" I looked at the costs of new Muslin photo backdrops........whew!!
I found natural muslin cloth for $3.00 CDN per meter. That's great info.

Thanks

Dave/Photobiff
www.photobiff.smugmug.com

Also of note (I don't work for them, but I like them!) is Rose Brand (www.rosebrand.com) who sells super-wide muslin.

If you check out: http://www.rosebrand.com/A_Com/showprod.cfm?&DID=6&CATID=1&ObjectGroup_ID=3 it lists the NFR muslins, up to 39 FEET wide. NFR = Non-fire retardant, if you're dying it you definately don't want the FR salts.

-- BLP

I dyed a muslin last night and used an 18 gal bucket for the dyebath. Now I have a beautiful,unique, rose colored background and about 12 gallons of rose colored dye. what do I do with the leftovers?

Thank You very much. This is the cheapest way of making a backdrop. Thanks again

What weight of muslin is the best choice? Light, medium or heavy?

I found with the pearl gray dye from RIT, 2 boxes probably would have worked better, since I was dying non-bleached muslin (90"x4 yds). Even so, I did this with the Navy blue dye on bleached muslin and I LOVE how it turned out.

I also prewashed and bleached my muslin in the washing machine rather than by hand, and the frayed edges work fine on the bg.

Thanks for the tip. :)

I've made a couple of backdrops with these instructions. My favorite so far is the one I made with two bottles (not the boxes) of the Wine color Rit dye. The color came out really rich looking.

Thanks for the tips! And keep them coming!

Where do you find Muslin material wide enough for a backdrop? I have only found it at local fabric stores at 45" to 55" wide. I can sew it together but the seams will show. I have used canvas (painters drop cloth) in the past but they are heavy and time consuming.

I was wanting to know if you know what kinds of paints to use to paint a scenery on muslin or canvas that will be permanent and not chip pr flake off? I want to make my own senic back drops and am not sure which kinds of paints to use or what I should use to paint on the fabrics. Can you please help?

Whoah...that's some harsh shadows on that backdrop.

Great suggestions above. I thought some may be interested in a relatively inexpensive curtain track kit that I used to hang a muslin backdrop. Far less than the typical commercial set-ups, and cheap DIY is the theme!  link 

you may have to cut and past the link since it is so long

I just finished two of them - both 10' x 18' (12 yards of muslin!). with the 40% off coupon from today's paper, the material was about $50. I spent another $20 on dye.

The instructions worked great - I just had to think in larger quantities and bigger sizes.

I did one of them in brown tones (mixed myself using dark brown and a little black dye) and the other in gray tones (one box of black).

Took me about three or four hours total - but I'd do it again!

I did it and it was cheap and lots of fun... Wear gloves... my hands are stained blue... they look like Zonbie hands...

how would you suggest dying the fabric if I want to do two different shades of dye instead of just one?

Jay, I have to say you are the man. I am currently working on making a Member Photo Directory for the church I am attending. I volunteered my time, computer and equipment for this venture so it would not cost the church anything besides printing them. In short, I am trying to do this on the cheap to start it up for the first year. This method worked like a charm. Would love to include a picture in this, but not sure how. It only cost me 14 USD for the fabric and 6 for the dye, and the backdrop looks like one I would purchase from a store. I followed the instructions to the letter, and then over dyed it to gray out the white areas. Used bleached Muslin and 2 bottles of black dye. Thanks for the instructions with the pictures. It has helped out my project immensely. Thanks again. Fred.

Thanks for the great DIY! I started the project at 8:30PM. It took a while but then I was able to take it to visit my family and use it at a family reunion that weekend. The pictures look really great and I don't even have good lighting yet. Adding a backdrop makes them look 'professional' or so say the persons at Walgreens who made my brother in law sign a release saying they weren't professional prints. :-) The muslin is so light I was able to tape it up with duct tape at the family reunion. Everyone lined up to be photographed in front of it, lots of big families. Very Very cool, and cheap. My wife showed me how to hem the sides. That added another 15 minutes to the project.

I'm going to try this again with multiple colors and also maybe different dying techniques. I'm thinking of upcoming holidays and how to dye large patterns into the muslin.

Again, thanks for the great ideas! Next I'll make myself some diy lighting... Cheers!

16'5" Trevira CS Digital Muslin, IFR

Cut Price from $53.62 per yd.
Full Piece from $42.90 per yd.

1.- Is this good for GreenScreen?
2.- What is IFR?
3.- What do they mean by Cut and Full Price?
4.- If i order 1 Qty. how much do i get? (16'5" x 1'?)

Thank You.

When looking for wide-fabrics try looking in the quilting section. You can often find 110" or wider there as they are used often for the backs of quilts.

This worked great!! I found Muslin at Hancock fabrics.com on sale for $2.49/yd and the Rit was about $3.00. I liked the first dark drown one so much that I did 3 others black, dark blue, and terracotta. This works great for taking photographs of my kids since they do not always cooperate when I take them to a studio. Thank you for the idea!!

I hope this works...
Jannine

Has anyone successfully tried to make a green screen yet? If so, what color dye did you use, and where did you find it?

My wife and I just did our first Navy Blue backdrop and it came out great. We soaked it for 30 minutes and then let it drip dry for about 15 minutes in the bundle, and then cut the twine and laid it out. It looked OK, but there was a big contrast between the blue and white, so we stuffed the whole thing back in the bucket for about a minute and then hung it up to dry. Looks great! Thanks!

I just want to say thank you for that tips. I have to say this you save me a lot of money on backgrounds.

How can I put a picture of my backdrop on here for others to see?

I just wanted to say thanks for the idea. I bought a 10x21 foot piece and dyed it and built a stand. Just wanted to say thanks for the tips and advice. Here is my attempt http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigwhiskey/2005506649/ I think it turned out alright.

Thanks again,
Mike

Hey I think this is a terrific idea I'm going to go buy the materials the afternoon. I really like your final shot against the dark grey background and I was wondering if you could tell me how you did that one and what color dye you used. Did you dye the muslin a color first?
Thanks again for the idea.

Here is another way to make a cheap muslin background.
What you will need are some containers for the colours (as many as you like). cutoff milk containers or cutoff plastic bottles.
Some tubes of acrylic artist paint (does not have to be expensive, hobby standard is o.k.) A large brush. or squirter. A plastic sauce bottle etc.
Mix up your paint with water. 1 colour to each container. Test it on a piece of wet paper for colour strength. Add water or paint accordingly.
Lay muslin out on a lawn and hose down the muslin with a fine spray until it is wet through. Then (here is where the artistic part comes in) carefully splash colour on by dipping brush into liquid and with an arcing motion spatter a line of colour onto the wet muslin. The colour will start to spread so dont try to cover too much at once. Leave blank space between colour for spreading or to add a different colour in between. The natural muslin colour can be used in between if you like. When you are happy with the result let the sheet dry and then you can use it. It can be rewet to add more later or you can fine spray it to redampen or run colour or to tone it down. This technique produces soft cloudlike effects. You can even hang the muslin with clothespegs for a different effect by adding the colour and letting gravity take control.

Still wondering if anyone has specified what color to use in creating a chroma key (generally blue or green) backdrop. Is there a specific color one must use. Does RIT work. Again, which RIT. I've got my muslin (Hancock Fabrics), and I'm ready to get my RIT. Thanks!!!

I made a blue one of these and posted a picture of it on my blog at http://www.driftlessramblings.com/?p=11. I've already ordered a large roll of muslin so should be getting several more. I'd also be interesting in knowing what color should be used for the ChromaKey. I'm going to guess it could really be any color, that doesn't appear in the subject, then use image editing software to remove that color. A good consistent color would be the key.

Allen

I went to chicagocanvas.com to look at pricing of the muslin fabric, and I'm not sure exactly what type to get. They have "Heavy Natural Muslin" 10' wide for $6.10 per yard, and "Medium Natural Muslin" 10' wide for $5.25 per yard, and "Poly Cotton Musline" 10' wide for only $4.30 per yard. I know you can also go to Joann Fabrics for muslin, I haven't checked on the pricing there yet. I guess I need to make sure I'm the right material, I am very new to the photography world.
Please help.
Thanks

Am making a backdrop the measurement is 20ft how much fabric do I need ,if am using a 60'width

I have made one in blue and it looks just great! I am planning to make some more.

I am wondering how to make multi-color backdrop from white cotton.

I made two so far. I made both 10' by 20'. I wanted to lessen the "tie-dye" look a bit but still have light and dark variations.

The first try didn't give me the results I wanted...so I tried again with success!

I will be posting my exact method and some pictures to go along with very soon on my blog http://sometrouble.blogspot.com.

I shoot mostly B&W and was wondering what materials are best for backdrops both in solid black and solid white. Is the a certain type of paint or other material that works well? If so, how do these materials affect lighting?

How do I get them to look less tie dyed? I like subtle variation in the value, but I think the tie dye feel makes it look a little cheap. The on posted on Feb. 18 looks alot more subtle and natural...But it may just be the lighter color of the dye. Any suggestions?

And it went relatively smoothly! I did it in my bathtub because I was being too lazy to go back to Wal-Mart and get tub for it. (Note: Make sure your bath tub is clean if you do this because the dye will stick to every tiny spot of soap scum/mildew. On the bright side I got to give my tub a good scrub afterward!)

I bundled it loosely, and during the final 5 minutes of soaking in the dye...I unbundled it completely and let the dye saturate everything. This really helped tone down the tie-dye effect so I was very pleased. After I removed it from the dye, I then placed it in another container (I had one of those huge commercial sized pots in my cabinet) with enough water to cover it and a quart of vinegar as suggested above, and it made my color so much more vibrant! It's still drying, but I will post a picture as soon as it's dry.

I want to do with this with my students at school and then do a photo shoot with it. Does it matter if the muslin is bleached or not? I just looked on Joanns site and they have both.

I have a talented young artist that is going to paint a scene on a muslin background for me. It's his first time painting on something this big and my first time having something painted for me. I have read articles about this being done and the paints being mixed with downy to help keep the paint from cracking later down the road. My question is what type of paints do we buy for him to use? Help we are going to get the materials today! (Wednesday)

made my first one tonight great info thanks, this is double dipped using a bottle of rose.

I really love this idea!! I have been using a table top light box, but I need to make a backdrop like this for some of my other pictures. Thanks so much for sharing!

Christine

Check out my Fused Glass Creations!
http://www.mastersglassart.com/products289162.html

Dying fabric a continuous deep black is difficult - the same variations that add interest in the colored backgrounds are patchy when you dye fabric black. A better thought might be to look for fabric sales with black velvet - I bought 5 metres for about $30 (about a metre and a half wide) on a 70% off sale - full price that's still half the cost of your local supplier.

Hi, This is a very informative site. I almost spent quite a bit for a premade seamless muslin. Now, I'm going to try one after buying some supplies today. I probably I missed it, so forgive me for posting rather than rereading more carefully, what quantity of salt do I need in relation to one pkg of RIT? Does it need to be fine or coarse?

I'm going to buy a suitable dropcloth at my local Walmart or local hardware store (rural Alberta, Canada). Thanks for the advice about king size bedsheets and the velet remenant for black backdrop. I am also going to price out the plunger & paint extender backdrop stand.

Once done, I'll post my results. Thanks in advance for your help! Cheers!! :)

we call this batik in Turkey. Here my version

my muslin photo

Great!!!
I dyed mine all bunched up with a blue. It came out okay but I really wanted it to blend a little better so I tooksomeone else's advise and layed it in the yard and used the brown and black dye in 2 spray bottles. It complimented it very well and gave it great contrast!!! I will be making more soon since it was so easy...but this time I will be buying some big rubber kitchen gloves for my hands!!!

I went out tonight and got 3 yards of some Muslin at walmart and 2 boxes of scarlet, yellow and Navy Blue Rit dye I did not mix them but just used two boxes in a large pot on the stove with the heat on high to where it was almost going to boil.. It looks pretty good I could of filled in the white spots a little bit more but it's nice and dark looks really good.

Now How can I get yellow and Orange to mix and look nice with out changing to some odd color?

Thanks for the commentary on paint! I'm hoping to paint a scenic backdrop in the next two weeks, and the info here helped alot! :-D
Great day, everyone!
~Ranae

-Made our first backdrop yesterday, basically blue, and took the instructions not to tie the bundle of fabric too tightly a bit too far. Using lightweight muslin, 9 feet by 11.5 feet, I tied it into a loose bundle about 20 inches wide and 10-12 inches deep. Should have tightened it to something more like a ball of 12-14 inches diameter. We came out with a very nice, evenly-dyed blue, rather than the tie-dyed effect I was hoping for. -Salvaged the process by bundling it up and over-dyeing with pearl gray for about ten minutes. I may have been stirring the original bundle too much, too. That seems to have worked the dye in too thoroughly.
We're satisfied with the results but will probably try another one soon, using different colors.
Bought our fabric at JoAnn Fabrics, and the clerk even GAVE us a 40%-off coupon, since we didn't happen to have one of our own. With dye and all, I think the total cost of just the backdrop is about $25. Not bad, huh?
We bought a large-enough piece that I'm also building a couple of light diffusers to use in front of quartz-halogen work lights.

Hello,
I live in kenya, and here the widest muslin comes in 45" wide rolls.

Did anyone tried to sew different pieces and then colored them?
Any suggestion?

I LOVE this idea! And I can't wait to try it!! I have been to Joann's fabrics so many times looking at the muslin. But my question is...should I use the thicker weight of fabric? It is more expensive, but will it dye well enough? I really want a BLACK back drop, but a dark grey will work too. What would be a good lenght? Thanks for any help!

Thank you so much for this i am a photographer that is starting out from my home and i couldn't afford backdrops and i looked up you site and added it to my favorites. I went to wal-mart and got my Muslin $8.00 and rit dye that cost me $1.80 i was so happy and the out come of this i not have a backdrop and will be doing more over the weekend thanks a lot you are a life saver.

Some of you keep mentioning paper back drops, and that they can be inexpensive. Where can you get them? and how much are they generally?

electrical conduit pipe comes in 12ft lenghts. duck tape across the top of the muslin sheet gives it strenght. i tape the top of the sheet and leave about 1" hanging off the top and that way i can apply a second strip to the back side of the muslin. the muslin is sandwiched in between the duck tape. then i use CHEAP shower curtain hangers. i found them at a mega store for 1.50 for 12. the oval type that locks and is just the wire. unless you or a toddler hangs on the muslin this works. i hang the conduit on wall mounts that i found at home depot. i just poked the wire hanger thru the muslin and duct tape, sometimes i used a nail and hammer to make the hole first. fold the muslin into 12 sections across the top so your hangers are even.

also in the electrical conduit area i found 12 ft lenghts of square pipe. its not pipe but its a track for some thing. i took a shelf support which fits into the end of the track and i mounted that across the ceiling of my studio. i mounted the shelf support to the walls about 6 inches from the ceiling. i use this to hang my refectors and any other item i need to be off the floor. i also use this to wrap my extension cords and let the plug hang down so i dont have extension cords all over the floor. i use the florscent screw in tubes that are for photo 52000 kelvin (ebay) and use the large metal reflectors (home depot) they come with a pressure clamp and they work great for backlight or hair light. you can tape a cheap plastic bowl over them for diffusion. (dollar tree) this can be clamped to the conduit track and works great. i have the track about every 2 feet across the ceiling.
i found a plug system at office max that is flat and it sits under your monitor . it is about 2 inches thick and about 12" square. it has 6 plugs in the back and the front has flip switches so can turn on and off each plug. it is 45.00 and well worth the money. they also sell them on ebay. they are hard to find. and each plug is color coordinated to the switch on the front of the plug. (magic marker)
another great effect if you use muslin is to make a frame from 2x4's and stretch it across the frame like a painting. then paint it like a canvas.
if you have an area that is just for your photo work i painted the walls different colors about 8' apart. so if i have a baby i can set up quickly for either sex. pink for girls and blue for boys. i have a cart that i used microwave (sam's wholesale) and you can put baby top with a drape and have mom sit real close for support. also great for a lean support on head shots.
i also sponge painted the walls for more effect in the other corner of the studio.
if you want a brick wall ..... go to home depot and a sheet of fake brick paneling. 13.00 and you have a great backdrop. i mounted it on the back of the wire rolling shelf( sams wholesale)like in resturant coolers i think they are called metro shelves, and that way i hide props behind the paneling and i can move the brick wall easily and quickly. you can also use the brick on the floor for a paver effect. i attached it with dolly bolts so if i need them off the shelf quickly i just pinch the dolly part and it goes thru the wire shelf and i can use it on the floor.( home depot sheet rock screw area)

which muslin fabric should i get?..theres a ton of 'em at joannes...
i need help asap cause im buying these things tomorrow...

If you don't want to spend $120 to $170 for a background stand get out the PVC and do it for 5 bucks! Run down to your local home supply store and pick up a 10 foot length of 3/4 inch PVC pipe. Get 2 90 degree connectors. Get 2 3/4 inch straight connectors.

Use a hacksaw to cut 3 - three foot pieces ( or 2 4.5 foot pieces), and 2 six inch sections. Use the straight connectors to put the rod back together, put the angle connectors on the ends, and put the 6" pieces in those. Get a couple of old light stands - anything will do - and slide the 6 inch sections over the top of the stands. Raise the rig up as high as you need it and you're in business.

I've used this to hold seamless paper and muslins - some home-made, others store bought.

After hunting around for Muslin, I soon discovered that Muslin in Australia is not the same as Muslin in other countries...It's more like cheesecloth.
I went to spotlight and bought calico which is apparently the same as Muslin in the US. I also bought Dylon Colourfast Dye as Rit is really hard to get here (lincraft apparently have it). I ended up making 6 backdrops.
Thouroughly enjoyed making them, although my shower was a mess afterwards. All this cost me about $140 AUD.
Below are the 6 backdrops. Not a fan of the creased look, may iron them and see how I go.

I took 1 picture of my cat on a stool to see the DOF with the background.
I know the cat is blurry, hard to keep a cat still on a stool but I love the way the background looks. This is the first background of this post.

I read this last night and was all set to go buy some Muslim and dye it today and it was even on sale for $4-5 a yard for 109".

However I found some colors that were just perfect for $8yrd (the lady also said I could get 40% off one item for joining the preferred club). Score! I kept browsing because the stuff was mostly 44", but then I found some cool stuff on sale for $1.20/yd (normally $1.95). No need to get messy and waste time dying the muslim. These were exactly what I wanted. I got out of there with 4 backdrops for about $20 and made my own Y strap for a under $10. I think I can make do with most things using 44". Gonna rig a clothes line or shower curtain/curtain rod to hold them up. I just laid them over a loose screen door for now to test them out.

How I made A Y strap
7 ft of 3/4" black nylon belt (Was at least a foot too much, but I wanted to be safe). Set of 4 D rings (only needed one), 3/4" Belt fastner (like the ones on regular camera straps). And a backpack style clip.

Then went to home depot to check out the Strip lights and found some type of S snap hook thingy and a 1/4" bolt with loop, but I think I am going to opt for an O-ring on the upper right side of the camera vs. using the tripod mount. I don't think I like it hanging upside down and dont want to damage the thread. I tried just hooking it around my current camera strap loop and love the feel of it. My heavy E1 and 14-54 ZD feel light now.

If anyone is interested I will post photos. I owe it to you all for the ideas I got last night reading this great site. I will post my Ghetto Muslims too.

I had an idea after making a PVC stand and buying the muslin. I remembered a Christmas light (remember those shiny aluminum Christmas trees with the spot light and the different colored wheel that rotated... yes, I'm old and I hoard things). Anyway, I tried that with the color wheel (the rotator broke long ago), and using the red, green, blue portions of the wheel. It gave a very interesting color pattern to the white muslin. I put the light behind the muslin fabric. I haven't tried it yet from the front... but I'm afraid it might give a color cast to the subject. I'm sure that I could make a spot with various colored celephane (from the craft store), that would do the same.

A LOT less messy but the color isn't nearly as saturated.

Jim

Here are pics of both of my attempts (*see post above these by Bill for more info), overall I like them especially for the $ ($6 each)...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bills_d90/3339453368

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bills_d90/3339450572

On my flicker page I have started to add a few pics of shots taken with them as well.

Bill

I made my first one, and I tried the hardest color imaginable... black.

It turned out to be more dark grey... but overall.. I think it's all right.

No special settings on the camera (d50) and just using a SB600 flash. No lights (other than what was in the room)

I will probably try making a seperate red, blue, and green.

I bought a very expensive vinyl backdrop which I love but want to move it around rather than fixed as I have it now. Any "el cheapo" suggestions to build a support as buying readymade from local distributers is too costly. I reckon it should cost about $50 for materials.

I am excited I am about to make some tonight. I ended up buying some King sized sheets from the Value Village for about $4.00 a sheet. I will have to post to tell you how they turn out.

Been loking for cheaper backdrops fro very long! just landed on a piece of cake here!

Thanks for coming up with this. am surprised how easy it easy let me try it right away!

I ended up using a bedsheet because Walmart didn't have enough muslin fabric left on the bolt. I decided to grab a light blue King size flat sheet (108" x 102"). I figured that if I got the light blue sheet it would ensure that the over all colour was the darker blue that I wanted. Plus I didn't have to redunk the sheet after taking off the twine as the colours weren't too contrasting.

My photos are bad for showing, but my husband is the photographer and he was away, (this is a surprise for him) and our stand is put away at the moment. Check it out here: GreigBery

But here it is. I know some people were curious how it would work on a bed sheet. I'm going to try the muslin next when they have more in stock.

Thanks so much for the tutorial!

Thank you so much for teaching me how to do this. I am very excited to get started. Plan on using this idea to take some pics for a 50th birthday party. I am not a professional photographer, just wanted a cool backdrop to use without paying the big bucks! Plus the tie-dyed look gives me the look I want. Thanks for creating this!