For years - all my life, in fact - I've been frustrated by how the nap on velvet and velour makes it travel, necessitating the need for hand-basting every seam first. But worse than the hand-basting is the frustration of trying to fit a pre-cut lining to the velvet pieces. Even when the lining has been cut the exact same shape as the velvet, the velvet squirms and moves and in the end it's never a neat fit. So the other day I thought I'd try cutting the lining a bit bigger in places, and then trying to fit things together, but that didn't work out very well either. See green vest below.
Okay, if that didn't work either, then how about just pinning the reinforced velvet face-down onto the lining fabric, and cutting loosely around it? Which I did with the vest on the right. Then it doesn't matter how much the velvet travels, and there's no trying to make a pre-cut lining fit. After sewing the neck and armhole seams, I can trim the lining to fit. Works much better! Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?
I've decided to make a third 'Jennet" outfit - this one in browns. Everything for all three outfits has been cut out, but the sewing is on hold at the moment, as my dolls get ready for a special birthday party tomorrow.
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