Save money by turning flat sheet into fitted sheet in no time....

We have bought numerous bedsheet sets....and every set came with a fitted sheet, a flat sheet and two pillow cases. Normally, I would just use the fitted sheets and pillow cases and leave the flat sheets in their original packagings. I found that to be such a waste!

Now that I've gotten my sewing machine....the very first thing that I wanted to do was to convert all my flat sheets into fitted sheets so that I'd have more of the latter to use. Of course, you can also convert your flat sheets into other things like pillow/body pillow cases, curtains etc. It's all up to you.

This is a super easy and quick way. I didn't bother with hemming the edges as I didn't think the fitted sheets need to look amazing =P But if you've got time and patience, by all means make it look as perfect as you'd like it to be.

Start by laying the flat sheet over the mattress (wrong side up). Make sure the overhanging edges are quite even in length.

At each corner, use your fingers to pinch the fabric together snuggly.....


----lazy me use sewing pins to hold the fabric together....you can tack it if you want.


Then I use the sewing machine to sew a straight line close to the pins. Careful to avoid the pins by removing them one at a time as you sew along.


Trim off the excess fabric at the four corners and the edges (if any)


Sew an elastic band all around the edges (depending on how much elastic band you have on hand, you can also just sew the elastic bands only at the four corners or at the top/bottom edges).

I've sewn the band on the right side of the fabric 'cos it can't be seen anyway once the edges are tucked underneath the mattress....but if you think this looks ugly, you can sew it on the underside of the fabric too. You'd have to stretch the elastic band as much as possible when you are sewing it onto the fabric so that the fabric would gather nicely when you are done. I used a zigzag stitch here.

I've sewn the elastic band on the underside of the fabric for the 2nd piece so that it doesn't show on the right side...it does look neater this way I suppose. Voila...you've got a new fitted sheet....with a perfect fit!
I like to leave the excess fabric scraps for other small projects or you can use them for quilting.
I hope this sewing project can help you save some money from not having to buy so many bedsheet sets in future.