Monday, January 13, 2014

Tips for Sewing with Velvet

Ah, velvet. So lovely, yet so cruel. This is a fabric that seems to have a mind and body of its own. It moves without warning, shifts inches away from where you want it, and worst of all--gets ruined at the mere suggestion of bring pressed.

Quick note: Silk/rayon velvet (like the blue fabric I made the dress above in) is drapey and soft. Cotton velvet tends to have a thicker feeling to it, with more body. Cotton or synthetic velvets have the same challenges as silk velvet, since they all have a pronounced nap. Silk velvet can be a little trickier to handle and cut because of it's slippery feel.

The trickiness of sewing velvet can all be blamed on its nap. The nap (or "pile") refers to the texture of the velvet--the little hair-like fibers that stand up, creating a luxurious fabric that feels heavenly to the touch. The nap is tricky to sew because:


1. It has a direction, just like a cat's fur grows in a certain direction. If you pet the cat in the opposite direction, the fur stands up and looks messy. And the cat gets kind of pissy, too. Velvet's the same way.

2. The pile shifts easily. Imagine trying to sew two pieces of carpet together, with the furry sides together. They would shift up and down as the pile tried to settle itself in a flattened position. The pile can slide back and forth, causing unpredictable movements in your fabric.

3. The pile can get crushed with improper pressing. Crushed pile creates these weird shiny spots on your garment, and it's impossible to get the pile to stand up again.

Now that you (hopefully) understand velvet a bit better, here are some tips that work well for me:


Cutting and Marking

*Lay the fabric out with the wrong sides together. Any time you put the napped sides of velvet together, it starts to do its shifty dance thing. Keeping the smooth sides together helps keep it in place while cutting.

*Try using a rotary cutter and mat so you don't have to lift the velvet as you cut it.

*Transferring marks: I used waxed tracing paper and marked just inside the marked lines of darts in case the tracing wheel disturbed the nap. The other option is tailor's tacks.

Pressing

*Do not EVER touch the fabric with the iron. Steam, while holding the iron about an inch away from the fabric. Use your fingers to coax seam allowances open after steaming.

Sewing

*Baste! Hand baste your seams before sewing. A double row of basting works best: one row of basting on either side of your seamline.

*Hold the fabric taut as you sew, holding the fabric out in front of and behind the presser foot.

Lining/facings

*Consider using an easy-to-sew fabric for your linings or facings. For my blue velvet dress, I lined the bodice in cotton voile. It feels nice against the skin and reduces the stress level of sewing a bit. When you're lining in slippery silk or rayon, you have two difficult fabrics to deal with instead of just one.

*For facings, don't use velvet. Any time you can avoid sewing velvet right sides together, you should take advantage of it. Find a coordinating, non-napped fabric.

Stabilizing

*Stabilize necklines with staystitching or strips of silk organza hand stitched to the neckline.

*Do not use anything fusible--interfacing should be the sew-in kind. You can use muslin if it matches the weight and drape of your fabric well.

Closures

*I prefer to do a hand-inserted zipper. If you must do a machine-inserted zipper, use two rows of basting before stitching on the machine.

I hope this was helpful! Please let me know if you have any questions about velvet.

27 comments:

  1. Hi Gertie,

    I have a question about velvet: How do you pre-treat velvet? Can you put it in the washing machine? I have a nice piece of cotton velvet (I think) that I scored at a flea market, but I've been afraid to use it....I can't seem to find reliable information on this topic on the internet. Maybe you can enlighten me?
    Thanks for your post :-)

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    1. I know it sounds obvious but, you will pre-treat the fabric as you will treat it after it's sewn into a garment. So wool fabric, before and after it's apparel is hand washed, or dry cleaned (or heavily steamed). I think the general recommendation for cotton velvet is dry clean (sorry).

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  2. Thank you for this very informative post. It actually wants me to try making something in velvet.

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  3. I love velvet, it is so lush and luxurious :) But I am terrified to sew with it, as it has a bad rep. I really need to get over this :) Thanks for sharing your insights!

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  4. As I made my cotton velvet dress, I pressed it with the right side over a brush. It worked well for me, no shiny spots.

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  5. I would recommend a walking foot. Makes slippery fabric much easier to sew. I have used it on Minkee (similiar slippery fabric with a pile) and it works great for that.

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  6. Thanks for the post. If you use a zipper foot you can keep the presser foot tracks inside the seam and protect the nap on the garment. I have paid pros to press velvet. They press from the wrong side over a needle board, which will support the nap. Even then you have to be careful that the iron is not too hot.

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  7. I find that velvet works better if your nap is going 'south' on every piece of whatever you are making. So if it is a skirt the nap would travel from waist to hem, or a top from shoulder to waist.

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  8. I've just been pondering a project in velvet, so this is great info to have!

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  9. Gosh Gertie I love this blog....you sew the best stuff and I should just say you're one of my favorite sewing ladies....I have a few faves and your definitely one of em.....this is another cool ensemble and bit of sewing info.....I was wondering if you had any info on sewing a petticoat?...I kinda want a bigger flair on my skirts sometimes....have you made a post about that before?.....if so, would you please share your link if time permits?....thanks in advance! :)

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  10. This was very helpful! I wish I'd read advice like this in college when I first experienced the terror of sewing velvet. I nearly had a panic attack just cutting it! Then I tried ironing a bit of it and instantly regretted it. But I guess some lessons have to be learned from mistakes!

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  11. I always sew so the nice stroke is downwards, although the common practice is to construct so the nap stroke is upwards. Apparently this looks better. But one of the nice things about wearing velvet is being able to stroke it, and it feels wrong stroking upwards!! :)

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  12. Thanks for all the great info. I love velvet but I haven't tried sewing with it yet. I want to try it soon, though I find it hard to get hold of nice velvet fabric where I am, here in Aus.

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  13. Thanks fot the tips and I love your skirt/dress!

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  14. A walking foot works great for keeping layers together (along with basting, of course). For pressing, use a needleboard. As for washing velvet, cut a 3x3 inch square and wash/dry it as you would the garment--you'll find out if it shrinks, if the color runs, and if the nap will hold up to laundering.

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  15. The last time I sewed velvet it was surprisingly trouble-free. This is most likely because the velvet had an acetate pile that interlocked with itself beautifully--kind of like hook/loop tape. But it wasn't a stiff/harsh feeling velvet pile. I simply smooshed the piles together on adjoining garment section seam allowances. When smooshed like this, the whole seam allowance area stiffened like cardboard. But it was easy to sew the seams without the velvet slipping against itself. I doubt this would work with a rayon pile, but it's definitely something I'm going to remember for the next time I sew velvet.

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  16. Nap direction is optional -- you can alternate directions for special effects -- but mostly you should try to get all the nap pointed in the same direction throughout a garment. In a theatrical costume design class, I was taught to always run the nap pointing upwards for stage garments: it makes the color look deeper and more intense, and stage lighting is much kinder to velvet garments made this way. Running the nap downwards gives a beautiful sheen to the fabric. Designer's choice!

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    1. I've just made some trousers with a very fine cotton cord, which is almost like velvet. I made the mistake of not cutting all the pieces with the same pile/nap direction, and it's very noticeable on the side seams. But we learn from our mistakes!

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  17. I tried sewing cotton velvet...it left bits of velvet everywhere and I was coughing for days after I cut it out. And kept fraying at the seams. *sigh* No matter how much I like velvet I just can't face that again.

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  18. Great tip to use easy to sew lining fabric with difficult to sew garment fabric. So smart and clever! Is a tailor baste stitch a good substitute for double row of basting? Or do the double rows hold the layers like no other?

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  19. Thank you gertie, you have just saved me from wrecking my velvet that I have set aside for a jacket. Hunting for appropriate facings now!

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  20. I agree with Siri. I really really like velvet but the thought of making anything with it is pretty scary at this point. Can anyone recommend a good starter project? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

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  21. Girl you are amazing!!! Love this.

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  22. Thanks a lot for these tips! I know what you mean. I made myself a capelet from plush velvet, with a curved hem! It sure was tricky. Luckily it was only a 2 piece pattern, so I lined with cotton, but it still wobbled around. I'll use these tips next time =)

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  23. The perils of sewing with velvet... As a fashion design student, I foolishly decided to design my entire collection in black velvet- I was not an experienced sewer and I wish my professors had warned me. That said, even though sewing the dresses were a frustrating experience, the results were well worth it. My advice echos Gertie. Use a non-slippery, easy sew fabric for the lining (I started with satin which was a disaster) and baste your seams together before sewing. I think if you baste first you'll have little trouble sewing with this tricky fabric. My designs from my senior collection: http://elventryst.blogspot.ae/2008/11/designing-woman.html?m=1

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Thanks for your comments; I read each and every one! xo Gertie

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