Where does Velveteen come from?

Velveteen comes from the United Kingdom, England, first documented in the 1700s.

Plate No. 073fabric

The render is a stylized impression of the short cotton pile.

First documented: 1700s
Origin: England, United Kingdom
Fiber: cotton
Weave: weft pile, cut
Family: pile

Plate No. 073 · fabric

Velveteen

Velveteen is cotton's answer to velvet: a short, dense cut pile raised not from an extra warp, as true velvet is, but from extra weft floats slit after weaving, the fustian method. The pile is shorter and the luster quieter than silk velvet, which gives velveteen a matte, plush depth that wears hard and washes sanely. It clothed Victorian children and furnished parlors, and it owns one of literature's gentler monuments: the Velveteen Rabbit, loved threadbare into being real.

Illustration: a Victorian nursery window seat, a plush toy rabbit propped against the glass, wooden blocks and a tin drum, gentle afternoon light — A Victorian nursery window seat, a plush toy rabbit propped against the glass, wooden blocks and a tin drum, gentle afternoon light.

Named for

Velvet with the diminutive -een: the cotton imitation of the silk original.

In the record

1922Margery Williams published The Velveteen Rabbit, fixing the cloth in the language of childhood.

Common questions

What is Velveteen made of?: Velveteen is cotton's answer to velvet: a short, dense cut pile raised not from an extra warp, as true velvet is, but from extra weft floats slit after weaving, the fustian method.
Where does Velveteen come from?: Velveteen comes from the United Kingdom, England, first documented in the 1700s.
What is Velveteen named after?: Velvet with the diminutive -een: the cotton imitation of the silk original.