Velour Fabric Guide

What Velour Is

Velour is a plush, knitted fabric or textile with a short, dense pile that gives it a soft hand and a gentle sheen. As the original guide notes, it is usually made from cotton but can also be made from synthetic materials such as polyester. The pile is created in the knitting and finishing of the cloth, then sheared to an even height, which is why velour feels smooth in one direction and slightly resistant in the other when you stroke it.

The knit construction is the key difference between velour and velvet. Velvet is woven, with its pile formed by extra warp threads, and it has little natural stretch. Velour's looped knit base stretches across its width, drapes in softer folds and resists the creasing and crushing that can mark velvet. That combination of a luxurious surface and a practical base explains why velour appears in so many everyday products where velvet would be too formal, too delicate or too expensive.

Fibre choice shapes the cloth. Cotton velour is breathable, absorbent and matte, a favourite for robes, baby clothes, towels and soft toys. Polyester velour holds vivid colour, springs back from crushing and dries quickly, which suits sportswear, stage wear and upholstery. Blends try to take both sets of virtues, and a small amount of elastane turns ordinary velour into stretch velour for fitted dance and athletic garments.

Where Velour Is Used

Clothing is the largest home for velour. It has cycled through fashion repeatedly, from tracksuits and loungewear to dresses, skirts and evening tops that borrow velvet's glamour at a friendlier price. Its warmth and softness also make it a natural choice for robes, pyjamas, children's wear and cold-weather layers, and its stretch and durability serve dancers, skaters and gymnasts whose costumes must move with the body and survive repeated performances.

In the home, velour is used for cushions, throws, curtains and light upholstery, where its pile absorbs light and gives a room a rich, quiet surface. Theatres use it heavily for the same reason: stage curtains and drapes in deep colours read as near-black under performance lighting while remaining comparatively light and economical to hang. Craft makers value plush cotton velour for dolls, stuffed animals and Waldorf-style toys, where a natural fibre pile is soft against skin and wears gently.

Velour also appears in places people rarely think about, including automotive and display work, jewellery and presentation cases, and the lining and covering of boxes and instruments, anywhere a soft, non-scratching, light-absorbing surface is useful. When you see a deep matte plush surface on a display stand in a shop window, there is a good chance it is velour rather than velvet.

Finding Velour Through This Guide

This section of Fabric Search is organised the way the fabric trade itself is organised. The mills pages cover the producers who knit and finish velour. The wholesalers and distributors pages cover the trade suppliers who stock it in quantity for retailers and makers. The stores pages cover the retail fabric shops, craft suppliers and theatrical retailers where anyone can buy it by the yard or in small cuts. Following those three routes covers nearly every way velour is bought.

A few practical notes apply whichever route you take. Velour has a nap, so every piece of a project must be cut in the same direction, and you should allow extra yardage for that one-way layout. Colours shade differently as the pile direction changes, so judge a fabric in natural light and, where possible, from a swatch of the actual stock. And check fibre content against your care needs: a washable cotton-rich velour and a dry-clean-leaning decorative velour may look alike on the roll.

From here you can also step outward to the wider fabric guides. Cotton and polyester, the two fibres velour is most often knitted from, each have their own sections in Fabric Search, and the knitted fabric resources linked from the original guide explain the construction family velour belongs to. Whatever your project, a few minutes comparing fibre, weight and pile before you buy will repay you in the finished result.