Black stretch velvet wrap dress
I’m so excited to share my latest creation! I’m so pleased with this black velvet dress, made using the GBSB Wrap Dress pattern. The velvet fabric is luxurious, and the knee-length silhouette is flattering and versatile. The beaded embellishment on the shoulder adds a touch of glamour - I can’t wait for more opportunities to wear it out on the town!
Fabric: black stretch velour from eBay
Pattern: wrap dress from the Great British Sewing Bee
Beads and satin binding from my stash.
Sewn with my trusty Janome overlocker and finished with my Janome coverstitch.
Notes on sewing:
I only had 2m of this fabric, bought for a different project I abandoned. I was really careful with my cutting out! In an ideal world, I’d have added some length to the pattern for the waist ties, but this wasn’t possible with the fabric available.
In my haste to make the dress and get all the pattern pieces laid out, I messed up and accidentally laid the pattern out “upside down” so that the velvet nap strokes “up” instead of “down”. Aside from the tactile element for the wearer, not a disaster - but it does mean that it collects more fluff!
Next time I make this dress, I won’t bother with the binding - it’s far to stiff and alters the shaping of the dress around the neckline. Instead I’ll add an inch to the pattern around the collar and front, and finish the edges with a 1/2” hem.
The binding was a real faff to apply, and I didn’t like the finish. In an attempt to press and shape the binding around the neckline, I had a complete disaster. I pressed with a cool iron, through a towel - but the iron burped steam and damaged the velvet pile right in the front of the dress. It looked like a permanent splash of liquid on the front. In the end the only way to recover the situation was to deliberately and lightly steam-damage a wider area of the fabric, so that the single spot of damage was blended in.
I had already planned to decorate one shoulder with a beaded pattern, and this further distracts from the damage to the pile.
Definitely will make again, this time in a purple stretch velour.
