Pattern for velvet skirt

October 3, 2005 10:27 AM

Where can I find a good pattern for a velvet skirt?

I bought a gorgeous remnant of searingly blue velvet, and I want to make a skirt. Can anyone recommend a good pattern? I'd like to make it an a-line. Also links to free pattern sites would be nice, as well as tips for sewing velvet.

posted by Sara Anne to clothing, beauty, & fashion (8 comments total)

You could order a pattern online via this site.

I don't know if you could get a sewing pattern for free. I suspect not. If you have any sewing experience, you'll know that sewing patterns are not simply written directions as knitting patterns are, but tissue paper overlay that one lays over one's fabric and uses as a cutting guide. You won't be able to just print these off, and I can't imagine anyone's going to just be giving them away.

I'm an experienced sewer, and I find selecting patterns from online catalogues never works for me. They don't have the same selection as a store, and the info is more limited.

So I recommend you go to your local chain fabric store (Fabriclands in Canada, JoAnn Fabrics in the States, or whatever), sit down with their catalogues, and pick something out. It will be really easy to find an A-line skirt pattern. Figure out how much fabric you have, and check the back of the pattern you select to make sure you'll have enough. Check the "suggested fabrics" list on the back of the pattern envelope to be sure your pattern is suitable for velvet. If you are not an experienced sewer, get a pattern rated "Easy" or "Beginner" as opposed to "Experienced" or "Expert" or "Advanced". Ask a salesperson for help, or at least get her to check the fabric and pattern before you make your purchase and make sure they will work together. Also be sure to get such notions as thread, zippers, buttons, and interfacing.

And when you sew velvet, you need to be sure that you figure out which is the "up" side so all the pieces have the nap (nap meaning "direction of the surface fibres") going the same way. Brush your hand up and down the fabric. It will feel smooth going one way and rough the other. Also it will catch the light differently depending on which end is up. You don't want to sew two pieces together and have the respective naps going different ways. It will look and feel bad.

Also, if your velvet is cotton velvet, you will want to pre-wash the fabric as it will shrink. If it's preshrunk before you make it you will then be able to just machine wash it once the item is made and part of your wardrobe. Overcast the cut edges so they don't fray, then toss the item in the machine by itself in case of colour bleed. You might be able to get away with putting it in the dryer, but if you decide to let the fabric hang to dry now, don't ever put the finished skirt in the dryer or your skirt might shrink.
posted by orange swan at 10:52 AM on October 3, 2005

You can learn to draft your own skirt pattern here. This pattern should work well with velvet.
posted by Alison at 12:08 PM on October 3, 2005

Sewing tips here, and here.
I would put a lining in the skirt, some inexpensive acetate, for instance. Unlined skirts can be weird to wear.
posted by Lycaste at 12:58 PM on October 3, 2005

Recommending a good pattern isn't as much hard as it is pointless in that pattern catalogues change often. That said, I *have* made an A-line skirt, and any skirt is traditionally easy to make.

As close-to-free as you'll get is $0.99 and $1.99 pattern sales that craft and fabric stores have ubiquitiously. Just wait until one, see which is on sale (buttericks, mccalls, and simplicity are the big 3), and check the pattern books at the store. If they don't have a good A-line skirt, something is wrong. :) (you can also check the catalogues of those 3 sites online, links above)
posted by artifarce at 2:28 PM on October 3, 2005

From relatives in the business and with serious experience behind them, I learn that the big three are not that reliable for patterns. They make mistakes, you follow their directions, you find that the material cannot possibly be sewed as per instruction.

The exception is Kwik Sew. Free, no, but- how much do you not want to waste irretrievable time and velvet? And what would you pay to have someone else do it?

(I have no financial interest in any of the above.)
posted by IndigoJones at 5:33 PM on October 3, 2005

sewn as per instruction
posted by IndigoJones at 5:33 PM on October 3, 2005

Odd. I've never seen any mistakes in a pattern or been led astray and I've sewn a considerable number of patterns.
posted by artifarce at 9:08 AM on October 4, 2005

artifarce- What can I say? I only know what I hear, and this from folks with decades of sewing experience.

Burda is supposed to be good on this score as well, by the way, albeit designed for certain body types. I gather you have to experiment to find pattern makers who suit you.
posted by IndigoJones at 2:44 PM on October 5, 2005