Velvet fabric guide
Velvet Blouse Design with AI
A velvet blouse is a specialist order: ask for silk and viscose velvet at 150 to 220 g/m², and expect fewer mills to take it on.
Of the 12 cloths this guide lists for this cut, it sits between single jersey and lightweight denim in weight.
Next to lightweight denim, it is lighter, more fluid, shinier and warmer to wear.
Velvet Blouse at a glance
- Cloth to ask your mill for
- Silk and viscose velvet
- Typical weight
- 150 to 220 g/m²
- Drape
- Soft
- Stretch
- None
- Breathability
- Low
- Warmth
- Warm
- Care
- Dry clean
- How common
- Niche, usually a specialist order
- Typical cloth price
- $12-40/yard
Typical trade ranges, not one mill's figures: confirm them with your mill.
The blouse, in numbers
- Typical length
- 58 to 68 cm, from the high point of the shoulder
- Defining details
- Bow neck, gathered or puffed sleeves, buttons at the back or front, soft pleats
- Cloth needed
- about 1.4 to 2.0 m of 150 cm cloth, roughly $18 to $87 of cloth at typical prices
Typical figures for an adult size M. The pattern tier is set from the real piece count when you order.
How velvet behaves on a blouse
On a blouse it skims the body without clinging, and gathers at a yoke or a cuff sit softly instead of standing up.
At this length a soft cloth moves gently at the hem and falls in loose folds.
It wears warm, which places it in autumn and winter collections.
The finished piece is usually labelled dry clean only.
The pile crushes under pressure and where it is sat on, and it marks when pressed flat, so it is steamed rather than ironed.
About velvet
Velvet is a woven cloth with a short, dense cut pile that gives it depth and a soft hand. It is made in cotton, in silk and viscose blends, and as a stretch velvet knitted with elastane.
Silk and viscose velvets for eveningwear are a speciality of mills in France and Italy; cotton velvets are made widely.
Velvet pieces are usually lined in a smooth fabric so the pile does not catch on what is underneath.
Cutting, sewing and color
Cut every piece with the pile running the same way, sew with a walking foot and press face down on a needle board.
The pile deepens dark shades, and the same color looks lighter or darker depending on the direction of the nap.
It has a soft sheen that shows the folds without glare.
A description to start from
A blouse in silk and viscose velvet, 150 to 220 g/m², with a soft drape and a soft sheen surface, for autumn and winter.
If velvet is not quite right
- Lighter: Jersey, in single jersey
- Heavier: Denim, in lightweight denim
- Cooler: Cotton, in cotton poplin
- More structure: Linen, in shirting linen
Also: how the studio works, prices and questions and answers.
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