Plum Purple Blossom Gold Foil Stretch Velvet | Sold by the Metre

Plum Purple Blossom Gold Foil Stretch Velvet

Pastel blossoms in blush pink, cream and pale blue scattered across a rich plum purple velvet ground, with gold foil outlining the petals and picked out in fine sprigs between them. The flowers are small and spaced, so the purple carries the fabric and the gold does the work when the light moves across it.

This is a stretch velvet rather than a woven one. It gives across the width, has a slippery hand and a heavy, liquid drape that falls close to the body instead of standing away from it. 60 inches wide, with a soft short pile and a printed face.

What to make with it: Abayas, occasion dresses, evening skirts, kimono jackets, Asian suits and dupattas. The small scale of the print means it also holds up on narrower pieces like sleeves, cuffs and panels, where a large floral would be cut in half.

Buy a little more than you think. Velvet has a nap, which means the pile lies in one direction and the colour changes depending on which way you look at it. Every pattern piece has to be cut facing the same way, so you cannot flip pieces to save cloth the way you would with a flat print. Allow around 20% more than a pattern states.

Fabric: Stretch velvet, foil printed
Stretch: Yes, across the width
Print: Plum Purple Blossom with gold foil
Sold by: the metre, cut as one continuous length

Sewing velvet: Cut single layer with the nap running the same way on every piece. Use a ballpoint or stretch needle, lengthen your stitch, and let the fabric feed rather than pulling it through, as velvet shifts under the presser foot. Pin inside the seam allowance only, because pin marks can stay in the pile. Press face down on a towel from the reverse so you do not crush it, and test your iron temperature on a spare corner first.

Care: Do not pre-wash this one. Unlike our cottons and viscose, velvet is best dry cleaned, or washed cool on a delicate cycle inside out if you must. Never tumble dry and never wring it. Hang to dry and the pile will settle on its own.