Diane Vallere | Proprietary Fabric to Die For

Back when I worked in retail, I sat through a training seminar on a particular jewelry line. The designer used eighteen karat gold, and the company’s representative explained to us that 18 karat gold means that it is 75% gold and 25% other metal. Anything can be used to make up that 25%, which is how 18 karat gold can vary from piece to piece. But this designer wanted a proprietary blend of 18K gold, one that was unique to her brand. She used a high concentration of sterling silver in the 25% portion of her 18 karat gold. The result was a bright yellow gold that glows against the skin.

When picturing Poly Monroe in her about-to-open fabric store, I thought that she might want something similar: a proprietary weave of fabric. And considering her full name—Polyester Monroe—I knew the synthetic fabric would play a part. But polyester the fabric has a bit of a reputation in material circles, and if Poly was going the distance on outsourcing a proprietary blend of fabric, it wouldn’t come cheap. Would fabric aficionados be interested in Poly’s polyester? Probably not. Unless it was somehow unique.

Having worked in the apparel industry, I understood that a small percentage of a synthetic fabric, blended with a natural fiber, could change the drape of a garment. Blended fabrics make better garments for travel, as they don’t wrinkle as easily (and wrinkles in blended fabrics tend to release when steamed). And because synthetics hold their color more than natural fibers, the fabric that Poly chose would have to be something colorful and rich.

Velvet!

The word velvet describes the nap and texture of the fabric, not the content. Velvet can be made from silk, from cotton, from viscose, or from a combination of fibers. In Poly’s case, she developed a velvet that is ninety percent silk and ten percent polyester. That touch of polyester is what makes it her own, she thinks. Something that will make people remember her and her store.

Of course, when the shipment shows up and she finds a body underneath the bolts of velvet that she’s ordered, it just may be possible that they’ll remember her for a very different reason!

About Diane Vallere

After two decades working for a top luxury retailer, Diane Vallere traded fashion accessories for accessories to murder. CRUSHED VELVET, the second book in the nationally bestselling and Lefty-Nominated Material Witness Cozy Mystery Series, comes out August 4. Diane is the current president of Sisters in Crime Los Angeles and was co-chair of the 2015 California Crime Writers Conference. She also writes the Madison Night and Style & Error Mystery Series. Diane started her own detective agency at age ten and has maintained a passion for shoes, clues, and clothes ever since.

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About CRUSHED VELVET

Fabric shop owner Polyester Monroe is back in business—this time getting wrapped up in a diabolical but crafty case of murder.

With opening day of Material Girl approaching, Poly is stocking up on lush fabrics, colorful notions, and best of all, a proprietary weave of velvet. But upon delivery, it’s not quite the blend she expected, being ninety- percent silk and ten-percent corpse. Crushed under a dozen bolts of fabric is Phil Girard. His wife, Genevieve, local tea shop owner and close friend of Poly, is the prime suspect.

Granted, Phil may not have been the perfect husband, but surely Genevieve had no reason to kill him! There’s just the small matter of Genevieve’s own incriminating confession: I’m afraid I killed my husband. Now, as Material Girl’s grand opening looms, Poly is torn between a friendship pulling apart at the seams—and finding a smooth killer with a velvet touch…

INCLUDES A CRAFT PROJECT