It’s amazing how our train of thought works. I was reading a book blog recently and someone recommended Hitchcock’s Blondes. Which is about all the women who starred in Hitchcock’s movies, and all happened to be blond. He clearly had a type. Anyway, it sounded interesting and I looked around for a copy.
That lead me to want to watch Rear Window. One of Hitchcock’s best movies IMO starring Grace Kelly. In it she has a fabulous wardrobe. I was in it for the eye candy. That led me down the rabbit hole of Grace Kelly’s wardrobe in other movies. I stumbled across a photo of her in a fabulous red dress from the movie Dial M for Murder.
It reminded me of the red velvet fabric I have sitting in my stash, and it made me want to make something out of it for Valentine’s Day. So here we are with my red velvet skirt. If you’re interested in more skirt tutorials check out the posts below.
Additional Skirt Tutorials
- Blue Satin Skirt
- Leopard Print Bias Cut skirt
Design Breakdown
Cutting on the Bias
I made this red velvet skirt using this McCalls pattern 7931. It’s a simple skirt pattern with three pattern pieces(front, back and facings) cut on the bias. You can read more about sewing a bias cut skirt here.
Sewing with Velvet
So, the pattern is simple, but sewing with velvet can be tricky. Velvet is a thicker fabric and has what is called a pile. This means it has a plush feel to it.
First tip is to cut your material flat even if the pattern says to cut on the fold. Good news is that this pattern is designed to be cut flat so no worries there.
Velvet had a tendency to slip when sewing so a walking foot is recommended, as well as small microtex needles. Do a test run on some scrap velvet and take your time when sewing. You can also baste your seams before you sew them.