Some Thoughts on Material Selection: Although silk might work for the cloth, and is perhaps more supple, I found 100% polyester charmeuse (shar-mooz') that worked well enough. Since the fabric would be visible through the windows, I chose a dark brown. Not all colors are equally supple, so be sure to compare them. If the clerk asks, tell her you are looking for something that "drapes" well. The least amount of fabric you can buy in a fabric store is 1/8 of a yard (4 inches), but that’s enough to make a dozen doors.
I used 0.015" × 0.100" Evergreen strips for one of my doors. On the other doors, I used thinner and wider material. Anything about that size should work. After you decide on the size of the material, calculate how many strips you will need to make a 2¾ inch tall door and how many 2.2" strips you can get out of each length of material. You may need more than one package.
The bottom panel of the door has a 2-inch length of 1/32" or 3/64" T-section Plastruct on the outside. This will serve as a handle by which to lower the door, a guide to center the bottom panel of the door in the frame, and a lip to prevent the door from rolling up past the top of the doorway. Angle might also work.
I suggest adding a 2" length of large diameter (0.060" is about right) hardened steel music wire to the inside of the bottom panel as a weight (to keep the door taut) and stiffener. This will also help keep the lower panel centered in the doorframe.
The roller is made of 1/8" round styrene, because I had it on hand. A ¼" wooden dowel might work just as well.
For weights, I used split-shot from my tackle box. If you don't fish, a 4-inch length of 0.062" solder, folded back on itself, might work, or some brass rod.
Bill of Materials:
Paint one side and both edges of the plastic strip before applying it to the fabric. Cut the strips into 2.2" lengths when dry, enough to make a door about 2¾" high. For each door, cut a piece of the Plastruct T stock slightly under 2" long, and glue it to the face of one of the plastic strips next to the edge and centered from end to end. This will be the bottom panel of the door.
Cut a piece of charmeuse roughly 3 inches by 4 inches,
lay it shiny side up on a flat surface,
and lay the square over it, as a guide for gluing. You
may want to lay a piece of paper down first,
as some Goo may penetrate the fabric. Make sure
the fabric is not pulled out-of-square, or the door will
hang crooked and cause trouble. This would be easier
to do if they made plaid charmeuse, but they don't, and anyway
it would look funny seen through the windows.
Apply a thin line of Goo down the middle of each strip, starting with the bottom one, then apply the strip to the fabric, using the square to keep it in line with the others. Don’t apply Goo to the entire width of the strip; leave enough fabric unglued to allow the door to bend between strips. There is no need to leave any gap between the strips. Continue applying strips until you have made a door 2¾" high.
Make the door roller from 1/8" styrene, about 2½ inches long. Fasten a 4 inch length of sewing thread to each end, and add caps to the ends to prevent the thread from unwinding off the end. I made my caps from .010" sheet styrene, using a hand-held paper punch, and attached the thread by gluing it under the end caps.
When the door has dried, trim the excess fabric from the bottom and sides. Leave about an inch of fabric at the top. Glue the 2" piece of music wire to the back side of the bottom panel, as a stiffener and a weight. Do not let the music wire hang below the bottom of the door, as this could short out the tracks. Glue the roller to the back side of the top of the fabric, at a right angle to the direction of travel. Attach the weights to the threads.
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