Sewing with Velvet Session 4: Cutting & Marking

The pile texture of velvet affects everything about the way we treat velvet from the very beginning. So let's start there with the pattern types to choose when you're sewing velvet. The good news, is the world is your oyster. You can choose really any pattern when you're sewing velvet. But, there are some that are going to work better. So just from the nature of velvet, seams are going to show a little bit more on the right side. So you wanna minimize seaming details. So decorative seams like yolks and even darts, you'll wanna minimize. Minimize darts for several reasons, because the seaming will show on the right side, and also the pile texture, the 3d structure can get kind of bulky in those darts. You'll want to avoid buttonholes. Typically buttonholes don't do really well on velvet as well as top stitching. Top stitching is going to sink into the pile, so you're not really going to see it. And also top stitching like around a hem, it's going to add body to the hem. So it can really ruin the drape of velvet which is a lot of times what you want, when you're sewing velvet is that beautiful soft drapes and top stitching can mess with that. So you'll want to choose styles that are, loosely fitted, things with soft gathers and drapes. Typically those work better when you're sewing velvet. The issue of nap direction is really important when we're selling velvet. The nap typically has, an identified direction. And even if it doesn't, like this plain velvet, it looks like the pile is just sticking straight up, but it's still going to catch the light differently, if you're looking at it with the... if you're looking at it from one direction versus the other. So this one has a very very definite nap direction. So the nap is running this way, and you can tell just by running your hand down it. You can tell by the feel of it. And if I run my hand up the other way, you can see how that pulls the nap upward and it feels way different. It's like petting a cat backward. The nap just kind of pushes against your hand when you do it backward. So typically, garments are sewn with the nap facing downward. Think about how much more natural it feels to run your hand down your dress rather than up, to feel your soft velvet dress. That being said, there's no right or wrong way to cut your nap direction. If you cut the nap with the nap facing up, it gives a little bit of a darker, more lustrous look. And if you cut with nap facing down, it gives a little bit more of a shimmer and shine. But no matter what you choose, you want to make sure all of your pieces are cut with the nap facing the same direction. If you've got, you know, one side of your blazer with the nap facing up and the other with the nap facing down, it's gonna catch the light differently and it's gonna look a little funny. So make sure all of the pieces have the nap running in the same direction. On commercial patterns, oftentimes, they offer a width nap layout. So that can be helpful. Look for that. Most layouts are going to say with or without naps. So they, you can use those layouts no matter, you know, if you have a velvet or a regular fabric since the pattern pieces are running in the same direction anyway. But some layouts, are specifically with nap. And those layouts just ensure that all of the pieces, are facing in the same direction. Rather than this layout that says without nap and the pieces are facing up and down. So the with nap layouts are always all facing in the same direction. And that can sometimes require more yardage, to ensure all those pieces are running the same way. So, keep that in mind. Now once you have chosen your pattern, you want to make a fitting sample first. And I know everyone always says that for every project and people don't do it. But it's really important when you're sewing with velvet to get all of the fitting issues out of the way first. Test your pattern in a fabric that has a similar hand to your velvet, and get all of those issues out of the way first, because if you jump right into your project and you're sewing your velvet and you have to take out seams and resew them, it can make your velvet look damaged because sewing the pile, is going to crush it a little bit and then having to rip out stitches, it's just going to make your fabric look a little bit damaged. So, get all that out of the way first, before you jump into your project fabric, your velvet. So when you're cutting out your pattern pieces, there's a little bit of a technique to that as well. You want to cut out your pattern pieces from the wrong side. Think about trying to keep a pattern from shifting laying it on the right side of your velvet. This velvet is super shifty, cause the pile is quite long. So you can see how, just as soon as you push, press anything down onto that pile, it's going to shift around. So, to get more accurate cuts, get everything laying nice and flat. And then just cut everything out from the wrong side of the fabric. Use a rotary cutter for best results. And, I like to use pattern weights, or you can use two cans, or I've got, these are baking ramekins actually for my pattern weights, to hold my pattern down. You can use pins to pin your pattern down to your fabric. Just make sure you're using very fine sharp pins, because velvet can mar pretty easily. And if you wanna pin, try to keep your pinning within the seam allowances as well. And when you cut out your pattern, you wanna cut everything out in a single layer. So any pattern that says cut on the fold, you're going to want to trace that off to create an open pattern, since we don't want to have to fold our velvet fabric. Since folding it, is going to put the pile on pile right sides together. And it's going to shift a little bit and get some movement there. So we want everything in one layer. So if you've got say, this, bodice front that tells you to cut on the fold, we're gonna want to trace this open to create a full pattern, and we do that by, taking a separate piece of paper, or a large, you know, a large sheet of craft paper if you've got a full sized pattern. And we're going to, trace our pattern off. So start by marking your center frontline, place your pattern center line on that line, and then tape it down, use pattern weights, pin it down, do whatever you need to do. And you can take a tracing wheel. This is different from the tracing wheel that you use to trace markings using carbon paper. This one is a little duller and the tracing wheel that you use to trace patterns off, is a little more dangerous looking. It's got very sharp spikes to pierce through the paper, as you're tracing off that pattern. So you can trace using the wheel or, you can trace using your pencil, however you can most accurately trace your pattern off. So we're gonna trace the outline, and you're going to transfer all markings onto this new piece of paper, and then flip your pattern over and align it with the central line and do the same thing. Trace the outline and, transfer all markings, and you'll get your full opened up pattern to use to cut out from the wrong side of your velvet. And similarly, if you have pieces like sleeves, that tell you to cut too, typically, you know, you're cutting in a double layer, so you get a mirror image. But when you're cutting in a single layer, you'll want to cut out your sleeve, transfer all pattern markings and flip it over, and cut out another one to make sure you get mirror images. Now, as far as transferring your markings from your pattern to your velvet, you're gonna wanna do that on the wrong side as well, since it will be tough to... It's tough to transfer anything drawing, markings onto a velvet pile. That's not going to work. So we wanna do it on the wrong side. And you can use, a chalk pencil, or a chunk of chalk. But, even those, are going to put pressure on the pile. And as I was transferring markings on my velveteen, making a velveteen skirt using this chalk pencil even put too much pressure on the pile and it damaged the pile on the right side. The chunk of chalk worked a little bit better. I didn't have to put so much pressure on that but, your best bet is going to be using tailors tacks and thread tracing. You just really don't want to try to use your tracing wheel and tracing paper, because that is definitely going to put way too much pressure on the pile. And you're going to damage your pile. You're gonna see those marks on the right side of the fabric. Water-soluble pens, are markers, are also an option, but, you wanna make sure you're using those in an area, where you won't have to remove them so that you won't see them when you're finished with the project. Since trying to remove those water-soluble marks can also damage the fabrics, and it's velvet and water don't really mix. Velvet can mar the pile. Water can mar the velvet pile. So if you're using a water-soluble marker just don't try to remove those marks afterward. An air soluble marker is another good option. The trick there is sewing your project before those marks disappear into the air. That's always my problem. So markers can be good since you don't have to exert a lot of pressure to create those marks, but still, all that being said, tailors tacks are your best bet. So, let me show you how to do a tailor's tack. And you can mark anything with a tailor's tack. You can do, any notches, any circles, any matching points. You can thread trace your dart legs. You just wanna choose a thread that is of a high contrast, to your velvet color. Using a double thread strand, don't knot the end. And let's mark this little dye. You can see . I've reused this pattern multiple times, it's getting kind of Holy. So to mark this dark end point, there's that circle there. And I'm just going to take a little stitch through, in one direction. I'm going to leave a long thread tail at the end, and I'm going to kind of make a cross hatch. So I'm gonna go in the other direction. I'm going to leave a long loop, and a long thread tail, and cut through the loop. And then when I pull this off, there's that dart endpoint that's marked. And, it's the same concept, for when you're marking longer lines, such as dark legs. You're just going to basically hand stitch using long stitches, leaving a long thread tail and leaving little loops, in between your stitches. And you unclip those loops. And when you pull the pattern away, you got your dart line marked. So that is, I have found the best way to mark velvet and make sure you're using a sharp, fine hand sewing needle. And, generally all purpose thread works fine. But if you're using a very fine velvet, you may wanna use like a round thread or a silk thread or something very thin and fine. So, once you get all of your pattern pieces cut out and marked, then we can move on to tips and tricks for actually sewing the velvet fabric.