Since velvet has a deep pile, you absolutely cannot iron it... unless:
1. You purchase a needleboard (or velvaboard) to place face up on your ironing board with your velvet face down to avoid crushing
2. You steam each seam several inches above the fabric, and gently press them open with your fingers, never allowing the iron to touch the fabric.
As you can't iron, you also can't use iron-on interfacing, so you'll need to use the old fashioned stuff you have to baste on.
Since velvet has such a deep pile, when the piled layers face each other, they love to move all over the place, creating horrible ripples and puckers. You really do need to purchase a walking foot for your machine, or the alternative is basting every seam by hand before machine stitching (yeah, I thought not!).
When storing velvet, make sure to roll rather than fold it, because any creases will soon become permanent (this also goes for any pins left in for any amount of time!).
COMMENTS (7)
Oh my! Sounds like a lot of work. Thanks so much for the tips.
Part of the elegance of velvet, is that it does have a depth to it. But it comes at a price - without proper care the velvet can "shine" or the pile becomes flat (sort of like panne velvet). This is easier to do than you think, so it needs to "hang" after every wearing. You did a really remarkable job on putting this together. Where I live (in the Southern Plains in the US), velvet is cheap, but it's so hard to work with, I charge a lot to work on this fabric. Your elegant jacket, was obviously a labor of love!
Thank you so much for sharing! I'm on my way into the sewing room to "roll" all my folded velvet pieces.
Might I suggest placing a good press cloth between the fabric and the iron. Just in case....! Better still, follow the example above; get that needleboard/velvaboard (but still use a press cloth). Buy the best tools and notions you can afford. Nehmah
Sewing velvet used to be a nightmare. Even basting carefully was never good enough. Somebody gave me a marvellous tip. You will find in all good sewing stores SULKY TOTALLY STABLE aniron-on tear away stabilizer. It comes in rolls 8" x 12 yds. Cut a strip about 1"1/2 iron it along the edge shiny side facing the right side of the velvet without puting much pressure so you do not mark the velvet .Repeat for 2nd piece. Put the 2 piece together as usual for sewing.The 2 SULKY strips will be facing each other.No more puckering or sliding, noneed for a roller foot or basting. If it is a straight seam you will not even need any pins and you can sew your velvet like any other fabric. I work with silk velvet which is the most difficult and now always get perfect results.To remove the stabilizer paper start by tearing the wider strip on the right side of the garment. It works better than starting with the thin part of the strip right along the seam. The strip can ba used several times untill it becomes too narrow or does not stick any more when ironed on.
I think one could do the same thing with freezer paper which will stick to fabrics when ironed on but have not yet tried it. It would be cheaper.
Good luck to all who sew velvet.
Dominique
Smooth, pure cotton velvet should tolerate normal ironing-on the back of the fabric of course, even full steam. I got a whole dress made that way no problem... doesn't hurt to test on a small piece first though:P