Sewing sheets and pillowslips

[canadian gardener]

I'm finally back and sewing and one of my first UFO's to tackle was a fitted sheet.

I'd hit a good sale on sheets a year or so back, and bought a bunch of what was left, namely flat sheets in Queen (2 for flat, 2 more flats to turn into fitteds) Double (each double sheet equals 6 regular size pillowcases precisely) and Twin (as for the queen, I wanted a couple of flats and a couple of fitteds for each bed. All in white so I can bleach them, buy more as the bottoms wear out and still match, plus interchange the pillowcases.

Plus whites look so crisp and clean and with lace trims, they look really good.

Making that first fitted sheet:

Lay the sheet right on the bed, and use the seam ripper to carefully (those seam rippers can rip holes in fabric too) open all the seams.

Center the sheet so it's the same top and bottom and side to side. Don't wash and iron. You want it to shrink a little AFTER sewing the corners. (mine are all cotton, high thread count which won't shrink much, just enough to be "tight".)

Pin fit the corners.

Stitch where you pinned. A hair inside so it's not loose. Sheets unless they are flannelette don't shrink much. Flannelette shrinks like the dickens-- right off the bed so that is one to preshrink before sewing.

Serge a bit out from the stitching line (or trim off the corners with scissors, and overcast by almost going over with a zig zag.)

(the square scrap that results is a very fine hanky for husbands)

Now fold over the serged bit, and stitch it down so each seam is reinforced. Helps to keep it stitched in constant use.

Now either serge the edge or turn over and use a zig zag to hem but don't make it stiff or bulky in the corners, you want it easy for the elastic

after hemming, where the corners are -- cut a foot of elastic, pin the centre to the corner seam. STRETCH it as far as it can go either side, pin

and stretching as you sew, in a zig zag, stitch the elastic down on that hem edge.

It will pucker right up. You are done.

Use that clear "jelly" elastic sold for swimsuits and lingerie. It is the toughest stuff on earth, holds up thru chlorine, doesn't lose it's stretch when you sew over it, won't break, and stays stretchy. It's made of some sort of polyurethane.

I love it, it's my favourite elastic to have on hand for all purposes. When you see it on sale, grab tons of it.

[canadian gardener]

How to get 6 standard pillowslips out of a double flat sheet.

First split the sheet down the middle top to bottom. USE an old pillowslip for a pattern. NOW YOU HAVE 2 STRIPS of cloth, with a fancy hem at the top of each.

you want to unpick the side hems, and the bottom hem but leave the fancy top hem.

The first pair of pillowcases comes out of the top part with that fancy fold over hem. Just cut to match your hemmed pillowslip plus a 1/2 inch for the seams. Stitch the pillowcase closed.

Serger is faster but you can use a zig zag stitch on a smaller stitch, so it works to almost overcast AND seam all in one.

The next 4 come as you cut each remaining strip in half giving you 2 big rectangles that you fold over, sew as a pillowcase then turn under to hem.

do be careful to cut it crossways across the strip, I don't mean lenghtwise or you will have a very odd pillow.

Hope that helps save money

[canadian gardener]

that pillowcase trick saves a TON of money. I did the math some years back when I did the first set of these and it is just stunning how much you save.

Now onwards and upwards, you can do fancy trims, like a little lace etc, and use the money you saved to make your own lacy expensive bed linens.

I really cleaned up on a sale of Martha Stewart's everyday 100% cotton percale sheets, and knowing this trick means that I have lovely inexpensive bed linen.

Plus my sister's trick she taught me (and I"ve done it ever since) is that if you buy white only for bed linen, you can replace what wears out with another white thing, and it always looks totally matching. You can't match other colours, so the top sheet is often wasted.

She also likes being able to bleach the linens into submission and a fine and fearsome state of icy whiteness.

I like that you can buy white eyelet lace trim on special or good eyelet ribbon insertion trims and trim up the linen into something that looks positively heirloom.

[SewCrafty]

Fantastic job Margery!

One question, I have a queen bed with that pillow top (both sides) so the corners are really deep. It is hard to find sheets that will fit after they have been washed. So would I get king or queen flat sheets to do this?

[homesteadmamma]

Thanks Margery, going to do this later in the spring when I see sheets on sale. Great tips!!

[canadian gardener]

You are both welcome, I actually enjoy doing this sort of thing. Making sheets that really fit instead of popping off the mattress due to skimpy construction is a real joy.

Dee I'd get a King sheet for an extra deep mattress just to be on the safe side. You could probably manage it with a Queen but it wouldnt leave any room for error or shrinkage.

I have a thick mattress and this has left me with a 2 inch undertuck, after serging and hemming, but if you are dealing with a super thick or pillow top, you may want the extra "insurance".

King isn't that much longer, so you might even need to create some flaps for the top and bottom from extra taken off the sides of the king to create the undertuck that you need.

When the queen flat was broken open --hems ripped open-- I had a handsbreadth of overlap beyond the bottom of the mattress on all sides.

I think you need that extra, and I think the bare minimum is 2 inches of undertuck, NOT including hemming needs.

Martha Stewarts sheets have loads of good quality hem, but a cheaper quality sheet might not be enough even for a normal new type thick mattress.

[dz_blonde_girl]

I need new fitted sheets desperately. I've got some Target coupon overage coming and I think I'll check for some queen size flat sheets on clearance! Thanks for posting this!

[SewCrafty]

Thanks Margery!

[canadian gardener]

You are welcome.

If anyone does end up with a sheet that isn't long enough on ends or sides, just take a strip of white broadcloth and sew it on to the sides/ends

for an undertuck. It won't show--it gets tucked under, and it will add the extra depth needed.

You can piece it together by cutting how ever many strips of whatever length you have of plain white broadcloth

or cutting up another sheet just for these strips.