Updated January 29, 2021
Very Velvet is one of my favorite threads. I love how easy it is to use, I love the way stitches in it almost look as if they were done in fabric. I love everything about it, except that, until now, you couldn’t get it in a shaded form.
This thread comes in both sizes of Very Velvet and is currently available in 14 colors.
I got samples of it last month when it came out in 2014 and used up every bit of both colors so that I couldn’t even make one more stitch. I still use it often; this thread is great.
I used it for Mary’s dress in the Lee Needle Arts Holy Family, so you could get and idea of how it looked in a block. I also used it for the trees in the mission pictured at the top of the article.
In both projects, you can really see the variation in the thread. Shaded Very Velvet is space-dyed, meaning that different dyes are dropped at intervals along the length of thread. When the colors are all in the same family, you get shaded threads.
This shading is potent stuff. When combined with a multi-colored thread, as in the mini-sock pictured above, the effect is subtle. Partly because the Very Velvet is used as the “background” and areas are isolated from each other. But also because the Waterlilies attracts your eye first.
When used in a block, as in the Holy Family, the shading attracts your eye. While I didn’t do this in this piece, the areas stitched in this thread should be used for focal points because their presence is so noticeable. I think using this thread amps up the “glitz” in a piece without amping up the “glitter,” a combination that is good to have.
You can see on the other projects the effect a block of Very Velvet has, even when stitched in Continental. It really looks like a piece of ombre fabric on Mary’s dress. The trees’ look is more abstract, but still very effective.
Since this is Very Velvet you need to use the same tips to work with it. Cut short lengths, strip a bit of the end of the thread to thread the needle, park your needle with a short tail, and never restitch.
I think Rainbow Gallery has a real winner here and I”m actively looking through my stash for more places to use it.
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
These pieces are beautiful! Do you sell kits? The Mission and Mary and Joseph with infant Jesus would be most interesting tome.
The Holy Family canvas is from Lee Needle Arts and can be ordered through your local shop. It is distributed by Colonial Needle. I don’t know who makes the mission, but I think it is no longer made.
Keep stitching,
Janet
What stitch did you use for the mission?
The mission itself is stitched in Four-way Continental in hand-dyed floss.
Keep stitching,
Janet