When I told my Mom that I was making a stretch velvet dress for Christmas, she wasn’t too sure about my creative decision. I assured her it would be a magical throwback to the ’90s where velvet skater dresses reigned supreme.

I made sure I didn’t disappoint:

I’ve had an itch to make something in stretch velvet ever since I saw Tami’s awesome silver shirt and Becca’s inspiration post on how to wear velvet. I’m not sure if velvet is still on trend, but WHO CARES because I feel like a super comfortable princess who is ready for her second-grade piano recital! Yes, wearing this definitely gives me all the ’90s feels. <3

The fabric is this beautiful hunter green 4-way stretch velvet. There are a ton more colors and if you search “velvet,” many more options show up like crushed velvet! It’s a velvet wonderland over here, y’all.

The stretch velvet was surprisingly easy to sew and my sewing machine and serger didn’t put up a fuss. There is, however, a fine dusting of velvety goodness all over my machines and sewing table, but that’s the price you pay.

The stretch-factor is great, especially for a holiday dress since it can grow with me! It is super comfortable to wear and I can’t stop handling the fabric as it feels so soft and comforting. Is it getting weird yet?

I used a mix of 3 patterns to make this dress. Some of you may recognize the bodice as Colette’s Moneta Dress. I can’t get enough of this pattern as documented by my 8 other renditions. The velvet was a decently weighty fabric, so I didn’t want to use the Moneta skirt as it’s a gathered rectangle, which would make for a very bulky waist. I used the circle skirt portion of McCall’s 6754 instead. For the sleeves, I used the upper part of the Moneta so I can get a good fit at the shoulder but used the long sleeve of McCall’s 6796 as a guide for the length and width.

The only adjustments I made to the 3 patterns were:

• Added 1 inch of length to the Moneta bodice
• Slimmed the sleeves down a touch from the elbow to the wrist for a more fitted look
• Initially cut a medium in the circle skirt, but had to take off a fair amount to match up with the bodice, so a small may have sufficed
• Left the hem raw because that’s the beauty of stretch velvet! No unraveling!

When using a circle skirt in your pattern, it’s a good idea to let your dress hang for a couple of days to let the bias settle. I had to go back and trim the skirt in a couple of places to make it even again. I’m notorious for having uneven hems, both intentionally and unintentionally, so I’m glad I took this extra step because that hem looks A-OK from here!

Another plus is the twirliness factor! I love how the velvet has so much dimension and movement. 🙂

Before I go, here’s a festive picture – another throwback to my childhood of having to take pictures while all dressed up. :-p

So what are you sewing up for the holidays? Are you jumping on the velvet bandwagon like me? I highly recommend it!

-RED

You can follow more of Rachel’s adventures in sewing and cat wrangling at sewredy.wordpress.com!