Yes Virginia, there is such a thing as cotton velvet!

I've cut out wee little dresses in this beautiful teal coloured fabric. Shhh, it is someone's Christmas gift. Actually, I'm okay since it is going to someone who doesn't read sewing blogs.   

This fabric has a nap, dense pile and comes in a ridiculously narrow width. Thirty-seven inches wide if you're wondering. It looks like velvet but it doesn't have the same drape as the other velvets in my collection. Now I just assumed that if a fabric with this kind of pile were made from cotton, it would be called a velveteen fabric. But did you know that there is such a thing as cotton velvet? I thought that velvet meant the fibre content would be either silk or rayon. 

According to Claire Shaeffer's Fabric Sewing Guide, there is such a thing as cotton velvet!  

The velvet pile will unravel on the lengthwise grain between two warp rows.  

And I learned something new today!

Happy Sewing!