As soon as it gets chilly I want to get all comfy and cozy, so naturally I begin gravitating towards French Terry fabric! If you’re looking for a French Terry that can be made into a variety of garments, then you’ll need to check this one out. This midweight charcoal organic cotton/bamboo/spandex French Terry might be the most versatile French Terry I’ve come across, and it’s so incredibly soft, natural, and organic to boot! I picked up several yards of this stuff in charcoal because I knew it would make for a great collection of wardrobe staples, and let me tell you it didn’t disappoint.
First the deets about the fabric, shall we? This French terry is a midweight knit with 12% spandex (that’s A LOT), 100% 4-way stretch and excellent recovery. It’s soft, has a nice drape, did great on delicate cycle in the washer and dryer, and it’s 60″ wide which gives you a lot of fabric to work with. The natural bamboo and organic cotton fibers provide a breathable fabric that’s insulating, absorbent, and gentle for sensitive skin.
From the front it looks more like a cotton/spandex fabric, but the back has those telltale loops characteristic of French terry, and this is what helps make it oh-so-cozy. After taking some scraps to my serger, I found it doesn’t sew up like other French terry fabric, and I needed to treat it more like I was sewing double brushed poly. I also used a larger stretch needle size in my serger to avoid skipped stitches.
I decided to make the Vermont Cardigan from New Horizons as it’s been sitting in my pattern stash for some time, and I really want more throw-on cardigans that I can pair with my warmer weather tops. I omitted the buttons since I don’t plan on buttoning this up, but this is what it would look like if I did close it…
After looking at this picture though I may add some after all; it looks like it would make a cute dress! This fabric makes this cardigan incredibly comfortable and it stretches beautifully when I sit down or move around. There’s no fabric restriction at all. The cuffs are a bit snug, but not uncomfortably so, and they keep me warm. I may need to shorten the sleeves though since they’re bunching at the elbow.
I topstitched the pockets and along the front band to give it a more finished look. I did this with my coverstitch machine, using wooly nylon thread in the looper and a single needle with regular polyester thread for the top stitching.
A view of the back, and although I’ve sat in this cardigan several times, it’s not bagged out or saggy! Thank you spandex. I also made myself some leggings with this same fabric, and although I don’t have any pictures of myself wearing them (I’m new to wearing leggings as a grown woman, but I’ll get to the point I’m sure where I feel comfortable showing them off!), and I didn’t need to size up or anything. They’re a dream to wear, and I LOVE them.
I’m going to tell you as one knit fabric lover/enabler to another, if you haven’t grabbed some of this organic cotton/bamboo French terry then you should. Affordable French terry like this doesn’t come around all that often. To be honest though, they had me at bamboo…