Years ago I bought a reconditioned piano for my elder daughter who had just started taking lessons. It came with a complimentary piano runner with nice fringes around it. Being a fussy pot when it comes for home decor, somehow rather I felt that it was too common and wanted to replace it with my own design piano runner. With a handful of sewing and crafting projects on my list, it took me quite awhile to finally work on it when flash of inspiration came to mind after making the Susani and Velvet Patched Cushion Cover.
My idea was to create a piano runner with the style of ethnic luxe. For the materials, I used some remnant damask fabric given by a friend; the rich texture luxury Belgium velvet from samplee books; a hint of ethnic from the woven textile of Tai people in Northern Vietnam. The design had accommodated with the small pieces of the remnant fabric and velvet swathes. I am happy with the finished work :)
It is very intimating to sew with velvet material. Especially when it is a heavy weight upholstery velvet. I had no idea about this ornery fabric till I sew the Susani and Velvet Patched Cushion Cover. To make the sewing job harder, the velvet samplers had card weight stickers stuck around the edges. I struggled to remove them and then laid a light weight paper on the sticky part before sewing and later removed the paper again. With home use sewing machine, the motor voltage seems not powerful enough to pull through the material. I had to pull as I sew. The result is inconsistent stitching length as sometimes the sewing was smooth and at times it hardly moved. After the project, I send my over-stressed sewing machine with imbalance tension for service. I should have googled to find some tips in handling velvet fabric. Check this site for the sewing tips with velvet.
