Thread: Uncrushing velvet?

At some point during the massive renovations of my kitchen, and removal of all its contents into my studio/craft space/spare bedroom, my peacock costume in progress mysteriously morphed from 'neatly rolled up and out of harm's way' to 'crumpled dishrag'.

How do I return it to something more presentable? It's a blue, short pile velvet (not designed as a crushed velvet) and seems to be some sort of acrylic (came in a job lot off eBay).

I've had bad experiences with irons and velvet before, but would steaming it in the shower or something work? It's still in the 'cutting out and sewing' stage, so I don't have fringe or embellishment to worry about, at least.

Any help would be gratefully received!

You could try a velvet board (or needle board) under it as you press it - with steam if your fabric will take it. I have one that was made by Dritz, though I no longer see them listed on their site so tried to find similar items to show you what I mean:

Sleeve Boards & Covers

Product: Velvet Ironing Mat

That's interesting, thank-you. Learn something new every day.

If the velvet board doesn't work, and the wrinkles don't steam out of the nap, you may just be stuck with a crushed velvet costume instead of a plain velvet one. One time out of desperation, I washed a piece of velvet that had gotten really dirty, and I wasn't able to find any combination of things that un-crushed it afterward. The clean fabric was flat, but the nap was permanently wrinkled. I'm okay with the end result, because the texturing worked on that particular costume, but the effect wasn't reversible for me. If you end up with a mixed lot of crushed and uncrushed pieces, you can always run the whole thing through a cold-water wash cycle (if you've already got cut or partially sewn pieces, put them in washer bags). At least then everything will be at a matching state of distress.

I think embracing the crushed velvet would be a solution. You could crush it more and in a pattern that you like? Crushed velvet is really pretty!

Thanks for the help folks.

The needle board is a little out of my price range (this is about the only piece of velvet I own), so I think I'll try steaming it, and if that doesn't work then crushed velvet it is!

Oddly enough, I did not know you could crush non-crushed velvet!

This may be how "crushed velvet" and "panne velvet" came to be in the first place - when someone who accidentally wrinkled (crushed) or ironed (panne) their velvet garment, but went ahead and wore it with great panache and ended up starting a trend.

-Devora