Dress Velvets

Go Mafioso

Originally our resident expert Alan called the fabric in the image above a velour. I think he was having a bit of a senile moment. Or maybe he didn’t but we did have to have a little discussion in the office as to the difference between a velvet and a velour fabric. I hasten to add, not that he doesn’t know but he should really be relaxing on a cruise ship somewhere but he just loves to keep motoring on!

I don’t want us to get into trouble so just to make clear before I go on, this cloth is definitely velvet.

Velour is a closely woven knit with a lustrous finish like a velvet. Velvet is a woven cloth, it is woven on a double loom which creates two fabrics simultaneously, a bit like a sandwich with the backing as the ‘bread’ and the lengthwise warp yarn as the filling. When complete it is sliced though the centre of the filling resulting in two pieces of velvet each with a sturdy erect pile.

A little tip for sewing with velvet; sew with the nap where possible and life the presser foot every 10cm to allow fabric to relax. You can’t really unpick as stitches will leave holes.

Would you wash it? Yes you can, it is cotton but the pile may not look the same again, I would be very careful and if in doubt dry clean.

Anyway it is gorgeous and depending on your style go Mafioso.

We have some really lovely velvet dress fabrics in which you can have a look at here.

If you want velour, we have a tiny bit left from a large shipment we had.