Velvet, Anyone?

Ahh, velvet . . . even the name has a warm, fuzzy feeling. As textures go, it is hard to beat, with its softness and shiny nap catching the light, making the color sing. Since we love to mix fibers and textures in our work, we were thrilled to discover this new product—a hand-dyed stretch velvet, by The Velvet Hook. We first tried this velvet a couple of years ago, when we began our Woodland Reverie series. We thought it would be perfect for our pussy willows and mushroom caps. And we were right! This unique fiber does not fray, so it is easy to gather and even needle-turn! It is superb for flower centers, adding dimension and texture, and creating interest in your appliqué designs. And because of the stretch, a little bit goes a long way!

As we have sung its praises as a great fiber for embellishing appliqué, Dianne—owner of The Velvet Hook—has offered to put together sample packages arranged by color so that we could offer them to you. Take a look at some of the ways we have used velvet in our designs.

 

In our Woodland Reverie Spring Robin, the pussy willows are made of velvet, gathered, stuffed, and sewn down to the branch.

The velvet mushroom caps in our Woodland Reverie Autumn Mushrooms really reflect the light! 

Alsatian Urn includes several velvet embellishments, seen below.

Gathered around a circle, it is the perfect center of this ribbon flower. Note how it catches the light!

The center of this flower is appliquéd with the velvet, and then stuffed for dimension.

Patterns and kits for Alsatian Urn are available on our website.

Next September, we will be teaching four of our Woodland Reverie blocks in wool at Baltimore on the Prairie. More pussy willows are seen above in the wool version of the Spring Robin.

And one of the new blocks is the Summer Fox, which also includes the velvet.

The gold velvet was perfect for replicating the conical center of a coneflower, and because of the nap, it didn't need added knots to give that effect.

The velvet was also ideal for these stumpwork blackberries. The beads blended into the stuffed velvet, and the stretch made them quite easy to create!

Our new Poinsettia Stocking kit features padded velvet petals and a stuffed velvet flower center. The velvet adds a richness to the poinsettia. Patterns and kits are available on our website.

Introducing Velvet Varietals

Hand-Dyed Stretch Velvet

by The Velvet Hook

Each package of hand-dyed stretch velvet includes five 6-inch square pieces of velvet, and we have four colorways available: Reds, Greens, Purples, and Yellows.

Reds and Pinks 

Various Greens

Purples and Magentas

Yellows and Light Oranges

We are thankful to Dianne Tobias from the Velvet Hook, who has been willing to work with us and has dyed several pieces especially for our designs. It may be a new fiber for you, but we think you might enjoy it as much as we do. Aren't the colors just spectacular?!!

To order velvet, go to our website, needleseyestories.com/shop. Supplies are limited, so don't wait too long to check it out!