spandex cotton blend fabrics

I don't understand how a fabric that is 95% cotton and only 5% spandex can still be so stretchy. At the thread level, how can it be twisted so that the cotton doesn't prevent the stretch? Is the cotton pulverized and somehow only glued to the spandex? But even then how could you glue 19 times of something onto a base strand?

I also don't understand how this particular 95/5 blend can feel so synthetic, like swimsuit material. I have a couple of other cotton/spandex blend shirts which although they are also stretchy, at least feel comfortable like cotton.

Hmm, I wonder if the thread for this fabric is made up of a pulverized cotton core surrounded by a very very thin tube of spandex.