Tweed and velvet are such a classic combination, and perfect for this time of year. This gorgeous vintage dress from TimelessVintageVixen is a really stellar example, and the wine velvet is such a gorgeous alternative to the usual black. Just add a bit of rhinestone sparkle, and you have the ultimate holiday dress.
{above: (1) black and white boucle fabric, (2) plaid buttons, (3) wine velvet, (4) burgundy rhinestone buttons, (5) plaid boucle fabric}
Sarai Mitnick
Colette Patterns
Owner and Designer
Sarai is the designer behind Colette Patterns and the author of The Colette Sewing Handbook. She loves sewing as a means to bring creativity and personal expression into daily life. She’s also a Crazy Cat Lady, vegetable grower, gin drinker, traveler, knitter, and bookworm.
Caitlin Clark
Design Assistant
Caitlin is our stitcher extraordinaire, putting together samples, helping with design, and coming up with fun projects for the website. She helps with photoshoots and is also our resident redhead and deputy Crazy Cat Lady.
Mixing textures, in my opinion, is one of the swankiest ways to really add some visual interest to a dress without really fooling with prints. I just love this warm, dramatic mix of tweed and velvet–it’s so lovely! (Now I’m drooling over that FFC boucle… *sigh* lol!)
I wish that I could touch this post. I love the texture of textiles. It’s one of the main reasons it’s hard for me to shop for fabric online. I always want to touch it.
I have to agree, even though I love shopping for fabrics online because of the selection and bargains. But certain fabrics are much nicer to see and touch.
That dress is fantastic. Completely agree with Casey. I also think that textured cloth is a little more sophisticated and chic. And that gorgeous necklace. Don’t we all need a little vavoom like that in our wardrobes?
What a great way to use the richness of velvet in a fairly subtle way. I’m very into tweeds but never that comfortable using velvet. That is one of the most beautiful fabric belts I have ever seen, though, and definitely has me thinking. With velvet you can really get those incredibly saturated colors that look/feel so good this time of year when outside is so many shades of grey (& white).
I am working on a little wool peter-pan collar jacket from a vintage 50s pattern in a heathered, orchidy-wine fabric that I’m just wild about. The color is so deep and intense it’s other-worldly. It wouldn’t have been a terrible idea to do the collar in velvet[een?], though. Hm… Maybe too much of a Town & Country look, but still.
Hillary, I dig the Town & Country look though! These fabrics are great for 50s styles, I think.