Velvet is a soft, luxurious fabric with a smooth hand to the touch that will add a dash of elegance to your home or wardrobe. It is available in many color ways and can be used for clothing, home decor, crafts etc. Let's take a more in depth look into velvet; specifically stretch velvet and see what it has to offer!

KnitFabric.com has a variety of Stretch Velvet Fabric in stock.

Stretch velvet is a knit fabric with stretch that offers ease of mobility when worn as a garment. It is typically made up of polyester and spandex properties. When cutting out stretch velvet for sewing; be mindful of the direction of stretch and lay the pattern pieces in the same direction. Also, stretch velvet has what's called a "nap" and you may want to purchase a little extra yardage to account for. When running your hand over the surface, it will feel different depending on the direction, whether up or down and vice versa.

Stretch velvet makes beautiful dresses with excellent drape! It would be lovely to use around the holidays or to a special event. Aside from dresses, you can also make pants, tops, skirts or even hair scrunchies. For home decor, you could use it to upholster a piece of furniture, sew your own pillows, fabric decor such as pumpkins would be fun and cute or if you're looking to add a sophisticated look to a room, try making curtains! If this is your first time working with stretch velvet, start with an easy project to see how you like it.

I recommend washing and drying your fabric upon receiving. Certain color dyes are better to bleed out prior to beginning a project rather than after. Stretch velvet can be washed on a cold wash cycle and left to air dry or tumble on a low heat cycle. Since polyester is technically a plastic, it doesn't take to high heat settings well. This would apply to ironing stretch velvet too so low heat is best. Always test on scrap pieces first just to be sure! You may wish to use a press cloth as well.

Stretch velvet has two very different sides when looking and feeling the front which is plush verses the back which is smooth; it can be slippery to work with. Using an ample number of clips in preparation for sewing helps. Velvet also leaves little fuzzy fibers behind after cutting so if you have a small handheld vacuum or a lint roller handy, it will help with the clean-up process. Your machine may need a quick dusting afterwards too.

Some other tips for sewing with stretch velvet are:

• Using the proper needle size
• Correct thread such as polyester
• Use a walking foot if applicable
• Do not stretch it out as you sew
• Cut the pattern pieces flat and not on the fold for accuracy
• Hem tape may be helpful for hemming
• Always test on a scrap piece before beginning

Now that we've learned a bit about stretch velvet, let's sew up a project using it! I will show you how to sew a ballet dress with attached leotard and bonus steps on how to add a snap placket for easy bathroom breaks in case that is an important factor for you and your little.

• Ballet dress and leotard pattern form Peek-A-Boo Pattern Shop
• Stretch velvet fabric
• Sewing machine
• Thread, needle, marking tool, clips, shears and a ruler
• *Bonus step* snaps and interfacing for a crotch snap placket

Important! Before cutting, measure the child's chest, waist, hips and girth. There may be some grading involved and the pattern states not to size up or the neckline may gape. The chest measurement needs to be accurate as well as the girth so that the leotard fits properly. Since I added a snap placket to mine, I added and extra inch to both of my lower leotard pieces which I will explain further on.

With right sides together, sew the front and back shoulder seams together using a 1/4" seam allowance.

Shoulder seams complete.

Clip or pin the sleeves to the shoulder seams and sew.

Both sleeves are now attached.

Next, we will sew the front and back together beginning at the end of the sleeve on down the sides.

Sleeve and sides seams are done.

Fold the edge of the sleeve up 3/4" for the basic sleeve and hem.

Sleeves are hemmed. Now we will place this piece off to the side for our next step.

Take the lower front and back pieces and place them right sides together and sew along the sides.

*Bonus step* This step is not in the pattern instructions. I added this on my own so that my daughter could use the bathroom without having to remove the leotard dress. Cut two rectangular pieces of fusible or sew in interfacing to match the bottom edge of the front and back as shown.

Iron them onto the wrong side of the bottom edges.

Fold the lower front and back pieces over so that the wrong sides are touching.

*This is the part where I stated previously that I added an extra inch to the bottom when cutting out my fabric to account for the interfacing step.

Topstitch the raw edges in place.

I recommend adding the snaps after the band construction.

If the snaps are added before, it will increase the difficulty of adding the bands and the finish won't be as clean.

Grab the band pieces and clip the two short ends in place with right sides together.

Sew the short ends and turn right side out.

With right sides together, take the band pieces and lay the raw edge of the bands along the raw edge of the lower bottom piece. Make sure to match up the finished ends as best as possible for a clean finish. Sew in place.

Flip the bands down and topstitch the band seam allowance.

Clip or pin the front and back skirt pieces together with right sides and sew the side seams. You may hem the skirt now if you'd like or you can leave it raw. I was going to leave mine raw but after I finished the dress I decided to do a rolled hem.

Grab the bodice piece that we set aside earlier and place it inside the skirt with right sides together. Baste the bodice to the skirt.

Take the lower bottom piece and turn it inside out and place it over the skirt. Sew to attach all three layers making it one.

Turn the dress right side out.

Take the neck binding piece and sew the short ends together.

Align the neck binding seam with the back of the dress and clip or pin the raw edges together.

Flip the neck binding up.

Fold the neck binding over the seam allowance and pin or clip in place.

Topstitch in pace using a long straight stitch.

Here is the rolled hem I decided to add at the end.

The leotard with dress and added snap placket is now complete!

This new ballet dress brings out all the twirls and dances that little girls like to make and play!

The pattern features 3 different views and several different options for your liking such as: The basic leotard, dress or peplum with leotard, and the basic dress or peplum. Flutter or basic sleeves and optional cross back straps.

Whether your little needs an outfit for dance class, a suit to swim in or just a fun dress to play and feel beautiful in, your child will love wearing the new ballet leotard and dress!

Thank you for joining us. Remember to take a look through our Stretch Velvet section and join our Facebook Group before you leave. Happy Sewing!