Making sheets

Making sheets is not difficult.  All it is, is simply fabric yardage sewn together sort of like making a backing for a quilt.  Then the edges are hemmed.  I'm writing a description of how I plan to do mine for those who don't want to wait until I have the time to make mine and take photos.  It may be several days before I get the chance to finish my sheets. 



Fabric pieces cut to make bed sheets and window quilts.

Here's how I figured the size for my sheets.

I have a double size bed.  The mattress measured 54W X 74L on top.  The mattress is 10 inches tall.  I wanted a tuck under of at least 7 inches.  So let's see...... 54 plus 20 (two sides) plus 14 (two sides) comes up to 88 inches for the width.   Quilting fabric I have is 44 inches wide.  This means that two widths of fabric will be plenty for the width of my sheets.  It will be a little shy of 88" wide when finished but I can live with that.  If the fabric had been narrower than 44, I could have used a third width and cut to size. 

Now for the length.  My mattress is 74" long, plus 20" for the height of the mattress (head and foot), plus tucking in of 7" (head and foot) so this figures up to 108" for the length.  That's 3 yards.  Figuring that I need two fabric widths for the side to side measurement, I need 6 yards of fabric for one flat sheet.

Sew the two widths together down the middle.  Sew a simple hem around the outside edge and it's a sheet.  Because the sheet is long enough and wide enough to tuck under the mattress, it's also plenty large enough to be used as a top sheet.  Oh?  You want a pretty border along the top edge of your top sheet so it will match your pillow cases? 

Ok, I can simply cut the length a little less than 3 yards then cut a piece of a different fabric to sew on the end.  Just sew it on with the back side of the border fabric showing on the front side of the sheet.  This is so that when you turn the sheet down, the border faces up like the sheet does.   If you prefer to have a double sided top border, cut it wide enough to fold in half and hem along the sewn edge.  I hope that's clear.  It will make more sense if you visualize it in your mind before sewing.

Hmm... in making one sheet set and pillow cases, I can use up about 14 yards of fabric in about an hour.  If I make two sets that's 28 yards, etc.  Think about it, if you had 3 double beds being used everyday and you make 2 sets of sheets and pillow cases for each bed....   You could be using up 84 yards of fabric in a short time.  You will use even more if you have larger beds in your home.  Now that's a lot of quick stash busting don't ya think?

Storing fabric stash as sheet sets is a whole lot different than trying to store it in a quilting room.  The fabric can still be used for making quilts by simply cutting up the sheet as you would any other fabric.  OR, use the sheets as quilt backing.  It will be washed several times making it very soft in a quilt. 

I'll get my sheet sets made as soon as I can and take some photos. 

Stash busting idea

Is anyone looking for ideas to help with their stash busting?  Anyone doing a stash busting report on Judy Laquidera's blog?  How about this one for great stash busting?  Make sheet sets.  It's a great way to use large amounts of fabric.  If you decide later on that you really want the fabric for a quilt you can simply cut up the sheets and make a new sheet set from something else. 

It was after type-talking the other day about how my grandmother used to make her own sheets that it occurred to me, I can do the same thing.  Well, actually, I could have done this many years ago and didn't.  I always felt my quilting stash was just for quilts.  I would buy other fabric for other stuff.  I think much differently these days.  My quilt fabric does absolutely nothing just sitting on a shelf or in a box or in a bag.  It's better to make use of it.  Then when it's done it's work for a while, the fabric can be cut up to become quilts..... just like women did in the older days. 

The white fabric in the picture is actually pieces for my window quilts that I'm finally getting around to replacing.  The cream color fabric will be my sheets and pillow cases.  The burgundy fabric and the leaf fabric will be the trim.  I plan to make some sheet sets from more colorful fabrics too.  I just happened to have more of these fabrics than anything else right now. 

I used white fabric for the window quilts so I have the option to dye them later if I want.   My sheets will be flat instead of fitted.  I could make fitted because I do have a quantity of elastic.  I prefer to make the flat because they are easier to fold and store than the fitted ones.  Flat is also easier to use for quilts later.  I'll use hospital corner folds when putting the sheets on the beds.

I plan on using my fabric stash for other things too.  Lots of other things!  You'll see it right here on this blog as I get more done.