Velvet Yarn for Crochet: What It Is, Which Weight to Use, and How to Stop Worming

Some yarns you choose. This one you keep touching. Velvet yarn has a dense, smooth pile that reads more like cut fabric than like yarn — and it photographs beautifully, which is why it turns up in so much of what people make now.

Here's what it actually is, which weight suits which project, and how to avoid the one problem it's known for.

Is velvet yarn the same as chenille?

Essentially, yes — and the confusion is worth clearing up because the two words get used for the same thing.

Both describe a yarn built rather than spun: short lengths of fibre anchored to a twisted core, standing out all round to make a soft pile. That construction is what gives you the velvety surface and the squish.

In practice the craft world uses "velvet" for the finer, smoother, more lustrous end of that family, and "chenille" for the chunkier, more matte end. There's no official line between them, and plenty of yarns get sold under both words. Ours are labelled by which they feel closer to — but they're the same construction underneath.

The two weights we make

Velvety Chenille is the one most projects want: medium-to-large plushies, cushions, blankets, anything where the velvet hand is the point. At 77 shades it's the biggest palette we make in any chenille.

Thin Soft Velvet is the same surface at a much smaller scale — 2.0–2.5 mm hook, 162 yards to a 40 g skein. It's for detailed amigurumi that still need to feel plush, small accessories, and anything where a bulky pile would swallow the shaping.

One practical difference that matters more than the weights: Thin Soft Velvet is machine washable up to 40°C, and Velvety Chenille is hand wash. If you're making something for a small child, that's worth factoring in before you pick.

Why velvet yarn worms — and how to stop it

Worming is the complaint velvet yarn is known for: little loops of pile pushing out of the finished fabric, sometimes weeks after you've finished. A piece that looked perfect develops what look like small worms across its surface.

It is almost always tension, not the yarn. The pile needs the stitch structure to hold it in place. Worked loosely, there's room for the pile to migrate, and over time it does.

• Go down a hook size. The range on the label is written with drape in mind. Start at the bottom of it — 4.0 mm for Velvety Chenille, 2.0 mm for Thin Soft Velvet — and go lower still for toys.
• Keep your tension snug and even. Even rather than merely tight: strangling a bulky yarn only makes it hard on your hands.
• Single crochet holds better than taller stitches. Dense fabric leaves the pile nowhere to travel.
• If a loop appears, don't cut it. Ease it back through to the wrong side with your hook. Cutting leaves a bald patch that will only spread.

One more habit specific to this yarn: skip the magic ring. Velvet doesn't like being dragged tight and released — the pile catches and the core can distort. Chain 2 instead, then work your first round into the second chain from the hook.

What to make with it

Medium-to-large plushies are the sweet spot for the bulky weight — big enough that the velvet hand comes through, structured enough to hold shape. Beyond that: cushions, pillow covers, blankets, winter hats and scarves, and cardigans where softness matters more than drape.

For the fine weight, think detail: small amigurumi, faces and features, doll clothes, and accessories where you want the surface without the bulk.

For small, detail-heavy amigurumi in general, our amigurumi yarn guide walks through where velvet sits against cotton and acrylic. If you're making blankets specifically, the blanket yarn guide covers the chunkier end of the family.

The trade-off worth knowing

The same pile that makes velvet yarn beautiful also hides your stitches. In the finished piece that's forgiving — uneven tension simply disappears. While you're working, it means stitches are harder to count.

At the bulky weight it's manageable: the stitches are large enough to read through the pile. At the fine weight, or in poor light, use stitch markers generously and count every round rather than every few.

How many skeins will you need?

Work from total yardage rather than skein count, especially if you're following a pattern written for a different brand. Chenille skeins vary a lot — anywhere from 40 g to 180 g — so "3 skeins" means very little on its own.

Take the pattern's total yardage, then divide by 87 for Velvety Chenille or 162 for Thin Soft Velvet, and round up. Buy the whole project in one order: shades are dyed in batches, and coming back for one more skein weeks later is how you end up with a visible seam across a finished piece.

Choosing a shade

Seventy-seven colours is a lot to judge on a screen, and velvet pile in particular photographs lighter than it looks in hand — the deep shades especially. Every yarn family we make has a physical color card with real snips of yarn, which is worth the wait before committing to a large project.

Common questions

Is velvet yarn machine washable?

It depends which one. Thin Soft Velvet is machine washable up to 40°C; Velvety Chenille is hand wash in cold water, laid flat to dry. Neither should go in a tumble dryer — heat crushes the pile, and crushed pile doesn't recover.

Why does my velvet yarn look flat after washing?

The pile has been compressed. Let the piece dry completely, then lift the fibres with a soft brush, working gently in one direction. It comes back more than you'd expect.

Is velvet yarn good for beginners?

The bulky weight is, as long as you keep your tension snug — the stitches are big enough to see, and the pile hides uneven work. The fine weight is harder, because at 2.0 mm the stitches are both small and obscured.

Can you use velvet yarn for baby items?

It's soft and hypoallergenic, being polyester, which suits it well. For anything that will be washed often, choose Thin Soft Velvet for the machine-wash care rather than the hand-wash bulky.

When you're ready to start, our crochet patterns are written around these exact yarns, and the rest of the range lives in velvet yarn and chenille yarn.