How to Work With Crushed Velvet
Crushed velvet is a beautiful and luxurious fabric. Delightful to both the eye and the touch, crushed velvet is used for fashion, home décor and a wide variety of accessories. Working with crushed velvet, however, can be challenging. Because of the pile, the fabric tends to wander during stitching, creating problems for even an experienced seamstress. When working on projects using crushed velvet, choose patterns with as few seams as possible and keep other tricks of the trade in mind.
Things You'll Need
- Crushed velvet
- Pattern
- Scissors
- Straight pins
- Fork pins (optional, but recommended)
- Hand needle
- Silk or cotton thread
- Press cloth
- Sewing machine
- Walking foot (optional, but recommended)
- Iron
- Ironing board
Instructions
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How to Cut Crushed Velvet
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1
Determine the direction of the nap. Run your hand lightly along the surface of the fabric, parallel to the selvage---the self-finished edge of the fabric. A smooth, satiny feel indicates the direction of the nap; running your hand against the nap will feel rough.
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2
Lay the crushed velvet in a single layer, right side down, on a flat, hard surface.
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3
Lay all pattern pieces in one direction, either with or against the nap. Commercial patterns usually include special layout directions for napped or one-way fabric. If pieces are cut with the nap running up, the resulting garment or project will be a rich shade. If the nap is running down, the result will be a softer shade with a silver cast. Be sure to work around any imperfections in the fabric when placing and cutting the pattern pieces.
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4
Pin the pattern pieces to the backside of the fabric, placing the pins within the seam allowance.
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5
Cut each piece individually, one layer at a time. When cutting a right and left or front and back, be sure to flip the pattern over before cutting the second piece.
How to Sew Crushed Velvet
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6
Use a new universal point needle, size 11/75, and good quality cotton or silk thread. Change to a size 12/80 universal needle, if necessary, for heavier fabrics or when sewing areas with many layers.
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7
Use a walking foot, if possible. Otherwise, decrease the presser foot pressure and use tissue paper between the fabric layers.
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8
Make a test seam on velvet scraps with 10 to 12 stitches per inch. Adjust the stitch length, if needed.
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9
Hand-baste within the seam allowance next to the seam line prior to sewing by machine. For perfectly matched seams, use fork pins to prevent slippage where seams intersect.
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10
Stitch in direction of the nap, when possible.
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11
Reduce slippage when joining velvet to nap-free fabric. Place the nap-free fabric atop the velvet, right sides together, pin or baste and stitch in the direction of the nap.
How to Press Crushed Velvet
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12
Cover the ironing surface with a fluffy towel and test-press a scrap of velvet. Set the iron as recommended based on the fiber content of the fabric. Use steam. Always press velvet from the backside only. Adjust the iron as necessary until the desirable pressing results are achieved.
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13
Lay the velvet right side down on the fluffy towel. Use a large scrap of velvet placed right side down as a press cloth when pressing seams.
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14
Press very lightly or hold the iron just above the surface and use steam only.
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15
Slash the fold of any darts and press or steam them open rather than pressing to one side.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Preshrink the fabric by laundering as the finished item will be laundered.
Make a muslin mock-up of clothing items and make fitting adjustments to the pattern pieces prior to cutting the velvet.
To reduce bulk, cut facings from color-matched lining or lightweight fabric and use non-adhesive hem tape to finish facings and hems.
To make seams less noticeable, raise the nap by gently brushing along the seam line with a new, ultra-soft baby toothbrush.
Garments made of velvet hang best if fully lined.
Avoid ripping out seams sewn in velvet. Removing stitching often leaves a permanent mark.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit dead flowers on velvet background image by NiDerLander from Fotolia.com
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Comments
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graceheart
May 11, 2010
Thanks for the great info on how to work with crushed velvet!
