While I was at the SewUpNorth (organised by Sally and Becca) this September, I could not help myself from buying some red velvet from B&M Fabrics. I have been dreaming of making myself a modified Charlie Caftan(Closet Case Patterns) in velvet after making one in viscose (which I blogged about here).

Rather than using a facing for the neckline, I decided to use a band made from velvet, which is quite easy to do. However, I managed to mess it up as I forgot to think about how the binding overlaps in the front and do it in a few steps rather than in one, like I did.

This velvet was a bit of a trouble working with. Marking it was not that easy as chalk would not stay there for long and I did not want to clip into it. So for hems I used basting stitches to mark the line.

For the top stitching I used a small zig-zag stitch going all around the hem and leg slits.

Because I was lazy and I did not stabilise the neckline before construction one side of it stretched out of shape and does not look so great in the pictures. After taking the pictures, I tried steaming the heck out of it to see if that solved my wavy neckline. It did not work. It improved the appearance, but the neckline is still wavy. That should teach me a lesson!

Because of that neckline I am not sure I want to wear it in public. But I can wear it around the house. Pretty cool having a glamorous kaftan for around the house. I kinda feel like Liz Taylor. LOL

This project was not total fail but the resulting garment is not bad either. I can now say I have a red kaftan to wear around the house. Next time, I tackle velvet in my projects I will for sure stabilise the necklines before I start construction.