Why velvet has a direction

Cutting a mulberry velvet stripe top

Have you ever noticed that velvet looks lighter and shinier when you stroke it one way, and deep and rich, almost dark, when you stroke it the other? That's the pile: thousands of tiny fibres, all leaning the same way.

I've been thinking about it a lot while making the mulberry Magdalena top. Its stripes are pieced from the offcuts of the Mira Dress, and some of them are velvet. There was only enough velvet to make two tops.

Cutting two the same

While I was cutting, I realised I'd cut two pieces exactly the same, when they should have been a mirror-image pair. With no velvet to spare, I went back to the pattern and reshuffled where every piece sat. The "wrong" piece found a home in a smaller section.

Keeping the pile running one way

The fiddly part was keeping all the velvet running the same way. If one stripe leans differently, it catches the light differently. You'd see patches of light and dark where there should be one even glow.

I wanted whoever wears this top to see one deep, even mulberry, however the light falls. Most people will never know why it looks right. It just... will. I think that's the point.

Like all Baue pieces, it's made from fabric I've gathered, remnants and vintage lengths rather than new rolls. You'll see it finished very soon. If you'd like to see it first, join Studio Notes.

Anna x