Cotton canvas: third chapter of the Le Minor Book of Fabrics
At Le Minor, we knit a very thick, particularly tight jersey on a knitting machine that dates back to the 1970s. The specificity of this fabric, which Le Minor is the only one to manufacture in France, and the maintenance of this antique machine, of which no spare parts exist any more, constitute a rare know-how, and earned us the label "entreprise du patrimoine vivant" in April 2023.
New chapter in the livre des étoffes: heavy jersey
The Book of Fabrics, which we launched in 2026, is an inventory of Le Minor's secret materials, fabrics that we have refined year after year to sublimate them, so that they make beautiful, long-lasting garments.
We call it Toile de coton. That's a misnomer, because it's a knit, not a canvas. But we think this poetic license aptly captures the fall and tightness of this exceptional fabric, which we like to play with to create first layers - thick t-shirts - or second layers - overshirts, painter's jackets.
The jersey we're talking about today is the one that made up the most authentic raw cotton marinières in our collection. But we've tried to deploy its potential, to make this thick cotton knit the basis of contemporary creations, in which tradition and modernity meet.
Antique machine and living heritage: thick jersey know-how
Chapter 3 of our Fabrics book talks about a unique savoir-faire in France, which we perpetuate on a circular "Monarch" knitting machine from the 1970s, and which has partly earned us the "entreprise du patrimoine vivant" label.
This machine enables us to knit thick stockinette thanks to its "gauge": it's a 14 gauge! The gauge indicates the number of needles per "inch". Schematically, the smaller the gauge's metric number, the fewer the number of needles. The fewer needles there are, the more yarn or thread size is needed to fill them... and therefore the thicker the stitch.
This very thick jersey, typical of marinières robust, is absolutely unique in France: we're the only ones at Le Minor to produce such quality. And we do it by the sweat of our brow: to maintain a machine of this generation, it takes a great deal of patience and ingenuity on the part of Vincent, a knitwear setter, who knows knitting inside out; Tony, an electrician by training, who has converted to knitting, and whose knowledge is not useless in the event of a breakdown; and finally Arnaud, logistics manager and passionate about mechanics... and knitting machines by necessity.
In 2022 and 2023, to support our application for the "living heritage company" label, we highlighted our work in maintaining this rare machine, and the unique fabric it produced. And it seems to have worked, as Le Minor was awarded the "entreprise du patrimoine vivant" label in April 2023.
Knit or canvas? The case of 14-gauge jersey at Le Minor
The difference between canvas and knitwear is that to weave a canvas, the threads must interlace perpendicularly (warp and weft), whereas to knit, a first horizontal line is formed, to which a second line is attached by loops, and so on. Jersey knitting was originally designed to be elastic, as it was used in undergarments - including the marinière, originally designed to be worn next to the skin as underwear! - and was therefore naturally designed to follow the slightest movement of the body.
Thick jersey, on the other hand, is not strictly speaking a fabric: it's a knit. Generally speaking, when we use the term "fabric" to refer to our marinières or T-shirts, it's a misnomer, because it's really "knit". Le Minor specializes in knitwear, i.e. garments made from knittedfabrics . The only real exception in our collections is our woollen cloth products, the Kabigs, the cabans, the coats, whose raw material is woven, and most of the time at Jules Tournier, in the Tarn.
Nevertheless, we've chosen to call this fabric "cotton canvas", as a wink, because its tightness and thickness make it look like a canvas... and not just because it's a work of art. In fact, its structure gives it a drape and fall that has revealed it to us as suitable for garments usually made from warp and weft: jackets, shirts, etc.
Heavy jersey: first and second layers
The first purpose of our heavyjersey is to create the authentic Breton sailor's marinière. Knitted in raw cotton - a carded cotton yarn technically known as open-end - the authenticity of its thick hand is reinforced by its dry cotton. Discover our thick jersey marinières.
But as part of the renewal of our collections, we looked for other applications for this jersey/cotton canvas, to honor our heritage - always! - and to sublimate this material and this know-how. So, alongside the traditional marinière, we find thick t-shirts in soft cotton: discover the heaviest t-shirts on the market..
Last but not least, we've used this exceptional material - jersey knit so thick it's like canvas - to create second layers: jackets perfect for spring, which bring together the best of canvas and jersey - beautiful fall, suppleness and lightness. We don't need to show you our overshirt ...Discover our heavy jersey jackets instead..
Read the previous chapters of our "book of fabrics":
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