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Any ideas on how to make a curtain for a sub trunk? What material to use?

This is for my kids, so it needs to be fairly light. It also only needs to conceal the sides and front, not the back.

I'd suggest a dark linen or cotton which isn't too heavy, the spangly types of cloth can be heavy and the lighter colours can be see-through which is something you really don't want! Just get it hemmed all round and if you're attaching it to a frame or hoop, just sew the hem after putting the frame in place. You can get hemming web from haberdashery departments and shops which is fixed by ironing, quicker and easier than sewing.

Mandrake wrote:I'd suggest a dark linen or cotton which isn't too heavy, the spangly types of cloth can be heavy and the lighter colours can be see-through which is something you really don't want! Just get it hemmed all round and if you're attaching it to a frame or hoop, just sew the hem after putting the frame in place. You can get hemming web from haberdashery departments and shops which is fixed by ironing, quicker and easier than sewing.

What do you suggest for the frame? I was thinking of making it out of aluminum tube from Home Depot.

That would be my first choice and also get a connector of some kind to join the ends together - a smaller price of plastic or metal pipe inside would do fine, failing that a short length of wooden dowel would do the same job. Plastic tube as used for small bore plumbing or central heating boiler overflows would work but you'd need to get 4 x 90 degree bends to create the rectangular type of frame.

Thanks for the responses. The 1/2" PVC pipe was my second choice, but it might be a bit easier to join together.

For the fabric, you could have a look at some crushed velvet. It's not too expensive, looks good and would work nicely.

My favorite cloth was actually lined with proper "lining fabric" the satin-like stuff used for the inside of a sport coat, vests and good quality dress slacks; it's relatively cheap but it serves an important purpose -- it keeps light from penetrating the front fabric which can be most anything you desire. The other reason I liked this arrangement is that the tube easily moves and is less likely to snag when you're working and too, you can place the lining sleeve to the outside when you roll the cloth up for storage or transport and thus, protect the side seen by the public.

I've had several different covers over the years and aside from the one above (which I actually got second hand, btw) the one's that were most common (from the magic dealer) were a valore type fabric and even corduroy in one case.

The Frame for the tube is typically 1/2" pvc just as you've mentioned. I've seen one (never used it) that had locking joints in the corners so that you could fold it down for transport but lock it open when working the effects, this may be worth investigating because of how convenient it makes things when traveling.

The other thing about your covering is to consider the setting of the act; if you are using the effect in a special theme such as the American Western Frontier (Cowboys) or a Jungle type act such as you may find in a theme park gig. Using fabric that looks appropriate to the theme vs. a shimmering Vegas type display, is something to bear in mind.

Best of luck!