It seems that the knit fabric ponte di roma (also known as punto-di-roma, but I’m going to call it ponte roma for short) is all the rage at the moment and much credit must lie with Tilly Walnes and her wonderful Coco Pattern. And what’s not to love? It’s an easy knit to sew, it doesn’t crease, it doesn’t cling to your lumps and bumps like some knit fabrics, it’s an all round good egg. The fabric was developed in Italy (the clue is in the name) and I’m very glad they did (to think they gave us this AND pizza – praise be for Italy!)
We’ve just had a lovely delivery of this scrummy knit so I thought I’d get tapping in case you were wondering what it was. I love these houndstooth prints… I’m reliably informed that houndstooth is the new chevron, don’t you know.
Construction of Ponte Roma
The fabric is a double knit , which means it’s a double layer of fabric knitted with a 2 sets of needles on 2 needle beds most probably on a machine that looks like this which I think it looks like the Tardis controls… I’m glad we just sell fabric and don’t have to operate scary looking machinery like this.
The fabric can be knitted from all sorts of different types and weights of yarns and elastane is often included to increase the stretch. It’s a firm, stable knit which holds it’s shape well in a garment, great news for the longevity of your lovingly made creations helping them to look great for longer. Being a double knit means that it’s a two faced fabric so it can often (but not always) be used for unlined or reversible items.
Sewing with Ponte Di Roma Fabric
As far as knits go, ponte is a good fabric to start experimenting with. It’s nice and stable, doesn’t have a huge amount of stretch and won’t curl too much either when cut. Try sewing ponte roma with ball point needle in a 70/10-90/12 size. Stay tape might be useful for ensuring your seams don’t run away with you under the needle. Stitch length works well at 2-2.5mm It requires nap layout when cutting out your pattern so bear that in mind when calculating fabric requirements,
I hope you found that helpful. What have you ben making with ponte recently?
Thank you for such an informative article! I learned several things about this fabric that I needed to know before I start sewing my recently cut out dress.
Thanks for the information!!! Very good to know!
Very helpful–thanks!
The article was very helpful because I want to purchase Ponte slacks and will now, in several colors.