Muslin from the fabric store is a solid but expensive choice. Lasts forever and you can paint it whatever "white" you want with paint from the hardware store. Personally, I think I would watch the sales at your local fabric store for awhile. Mine often has sales on whole bolts (good for head shots) and the various fabrics that come on those industrial sized rolls. A few people have also suggested in the past checking out places that manufacture/sell curtains. I've never looked into that though.
if you do the PVC thing, get some sandbags or something else. it will be large and cheap, but not very sturdy. i have a friend who built a giant 3 panel backdrop holder out of PVC and it works great inside but outside the slightest breeze sends it tipping.
i found a GREAT portable background stand kit online for less than $100. think about all of the time to invest in buying, measuring, cutting, and reinforcing all of that PVC. your time is worth something too and this might be a better option.
edit: i was wrong. i bought mine at my local cam store. i can't find its brand online, but this one is similar
yea, i was gonna get some sandbags from my garage
PVC comes in alot of premeasure size, so i was thinking of just getting hte pieces and sorta putting them together
my dad owns a construction company, so it should prove to be a breeze
im going to take a trip to a local menards and figure it out
