A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Hobbies, Crafts and Creativity what to make from sheets?

I got a sewing machine this last Christmas and found out real quick that this isn't a cheap hobby! any way, I have very basic sewing knowledge...really just what I remember from jr.h.school sewing class. my M.I.L. just bought us all some sheets for all of our beds, which we didn't need! Since I hate to waste anything I'm wondering what I could do with our old sheets. anyone have any simple and useful ideas?

Simple would be curtains, pillows, place mats, seat cushions. A little more creative would be aprons. Beyond that, I've seen very few sheets that I wanted to wear. Unless you have flannel ones or the stretchy t-shirt material ones. Those would make comfy pajama bottoms.

Sheets are wonderful, I buy them on clearance for sewing. You can make quilts, duvets, pillow cases, curtains, kids clothing, pj's, aprons, christmas tree skirts, throw pillows, tablecloths, seat covers.....anything you can imagine.

I once bought a yellow sheet and one with butterflys(queen size). Total cost $11 and made a full baby set with it. Comforter, bumper pad, curtains, diaper hanger, wall hanging, duvet cover for the rocking chair pad, baby sheets and decorative pillows. My neice just loved it for her baby shower gift. I had enough material left also so that when the baby was born I made the alphabet name 'Erica' to hang up as well.

thanks for the ideas! I went through our old sheets and seperated out the ones we don't need/want for the beds. I think I'll start simple and make some curtains for the kitchen window. I have one dust ruffle thing we don't need and it already has the rufflie pleat things for the bottom. Next, i was thinking of making some napkins. i'm trying to away from paper towles and we normally use rags when we eat. ha ha. ok for just the fam, but what about when we have people over? ha ha. I know this is a dumb question...but, what would I do around the edge of the napkin without going and buying something like lace or that cloth tape stuff? I wouldn't just want a normal fold over and sew seam, right?

Yes a folded seam works well for napkins. As small as you can. Or if your machine zig zags you can put a fairly solid edging of thread around the edges to keep them from fraying.

yes, my machine zig zags. so just zig zag, or zig zag then fold over? I know these are dumb questions but might as well learn to do the simple stuff right and then maybe I can understand patterns better.

I mean zig zag closely so it is nearly solid. Like button holes? You can then leave them as is. And congrats on the paper towel use cut down. An area I haven't gotten to yet.

You can also stitch a couple of rows a half an inch or so inside the edges and fray them yourself. There are a lot of inexpensive ideas for edging.

hhmmmm.........gotta think about which way I wanna do them? I got six cut out. lucky me one of the sheets I put aside to sew with was patterned with squares! so, i didn't even have to measure. nine squares together are just the right size for a napkin.

Put the good sides of two of them together, sew around the edges...leaving a space to turn them right side out then stitch closed by hand. Then you can stitch a design or border to hold the two sides together...

I am a bit of a fusspot when it comes to hemming my table napkins. I usually do them by hand with basically a rolled seam or a very narrow twice folded hem. I find the small lengths easier to control when I stitch them by hand rather than by machine which can go faster at times than I mean for it to. Doing them by hand can also prevent accidental stretching of the alternate sides so that the squares remain true.


Merme

i've done them all ways mentioned above. just depends on the material and my mood.

i also have used old sheets for boxer type shorts to sleep in and to make cotton slips for hot weather to wear under long skirts (i have to "dress" for work )

boxers are on my list too! I have a pattern for pajama pants, so boxers should be a snap.
Well, I went with the zig zag edging. I haven't zig zagged yet on the machine so I thought I'd try it. the first one came out all kind of crazy with the stitches all different sizes and my thread broke a couple of times. maybe the machine was trying to get used to the new comand? I don't know, but the others came out okey dokey. Everyone SO enjoyed eating supper with the fancy napkins. I plan on making some more. I was thinking about what you were saying tamara with putting two together! I want to make a quilt so I could practice some quilting on a small scale.
You guys have been so helpful! thanks!

Cotton sheets would make awesome quilted potholders. And good practice too. I just didn't think of them.

Ha ha ha........well....I started crochetting two years ago so I have MANY (deformed/practice) pot holders! one drawer is stuffed with them.
maybe a cute centerpiece quilted thing would be cute though???

I took an old white sheet and cut and made hand puppets for Ashley's girl scout group I can think of tons of things to make from one too

awwww.....I bet that was really cute and simple to make. we just got back from hobby lobby. the kids picked out some supplies for experiements they want to try. I priced the cloth strips that come in a pack....can't remember what that is called...basting, maybe? I thought my next set of napkins could have a nice pretty edging. WOW! nothing in sewing is cheap! it would have cost 12 bucks to get enough of that stuff to trim out just 6 or so napkins. then I looked at the ribbon which was sold by the roll, but couldn't find any that were cloth. oh well, I'll just make a fold over seam.
I also found an old hospital gown tucked in with all the sheets we have. It is really soft and i'm planning on making my daughter a simple two side sew together sleep gown. gotta do some measuring first to make sure I'll have enough fabric.

If any of those sheets are flannel, they make a great center "batting" for the quilted projects.

We'd like to see some of your projects as you get them done so the rest of us can be inspired to try sewing with sheets also.

I don't know that my sewing projects would inspire any one to do anything but laugh. ha ha. just kidding! I'm proud of what I do, but I do get impatient and put that 'pedal to the medal' and go too fast sometimes. then I have crooked seems. I'll get the camera out in the next day or so and take some pic's. I have some plant pics to post in other forums too.
I wish I did still have some flannel sheets to sew with. they would make great boxers to sleep in!

old sheets can also be used to make crib sheets and a top sheet with maybe iron on appliqués then donate to your local shelter, it would be good for your kids to help pick out the appliqués and go with you to donate them,, it will give them a sense of pride knowing they helped to make something for someone else less fortunate. :wink:

My daughter sewed herself some cute tank tops from whatever material she could find a few summers ago. She had never sewn before, and got the pattern to follow online - they came out really cute. She used any flat material she could get her hands on here, and also remade some t-shirts into these tops.

that's cool! SEE, that's what I want to mainly do with my sewing maching, is make usefull things out of extra cloth.
I'm just a bit overwhellmed with all the measuring, then after you measure how big you need, you gotta allow for seam allowance??? I get books from the library but they seem to be either overly simplistic or over my head.
I have a chair I want to make a cover for out of old sheets. It's a kid's chair..probably not even two feet high, but it is a very sturdy little rocking chair. lots of life in it, but tearing apart at the seams as far as the covering goes.
Where would I even begin on doing measurements? and if the seams and lengths aren't just right they'll all tear out when someone sits in it. I don't expect you guys to guide me through this project! just please give me your honest opionon on wheather this is something I could accomplish at my skill level or not. (your not going to hurt my feelings if you say don't try it!)

Are you covering the cushion or just the seat?

yeah the kids loved painting faces on their little puppets. We made a puppet theater out of a card board box and draped netting across the front for curtains and pasted flowers on it. The kids did it all, they loved it.

when I was small my mom made me the coolest indian girls dress from an old white sheet.--she cut it out all in 2 pieces--just a front & back. i do not remeber about the neck opening but the sleeves & bottom of my dress were just cut into fringe, no sewing the edges that way. There was jsut 2 seams on each side., so I am thinking she cut it out all in one piece---then she painted it with colored splotches somehow. (there was no such thing as fabric paint then)--I just slipped it over my head---- thanks for causing me to pull back up that memory.

I can remember my mom making indian dresses every year, last one she made was for my oldest daughter when she was about 8 (she's 23 now) and she made it from that swede type fabric, I kept it all these years and Ashley has wore it now, twice to school for school things. it's still realy pretty.

I was thinking of covering the entire chair.

THAT story made me think of the indian outfit my MIL made for my DH when he was young--it was for halloween, He had a shirt, a pair of pants, moccasins and of course a headband. She used gunny sack cloth which she dyed darket brown. She then took a pair of Rod's old house slippers, and put some of the dried cloth around them---she did such a good job of covering them you could not tell she had not bought them.--they even had tiny beds on them----I have yet to know where she got those.--I guess I should ask, huh??? She kept this outfit and BOTH my girls wore it for Happoween when they were the appropriate size. Now I have this outfit and am keeping it until I get so lucky as to have grandkids.

About my indian dress----Mom never kept anything.

Cricket...you're taking on a big job. You'll also need an upholestry staple gun as well.

I've taken apart chairs and used the material to make patterns with, keep alot of extra fabric for seam allowances, sometimes you need to be able to pull it through the back part of the chair to staple before cutting.

Do you have a pic so we can help talk you though it?

Those costumes sound cute Carol.

ok, tamara. you have talked me out of the chair project. I made so many horrible projects and spent too much money when I started crochetting and tried to make stuff that was too difficult. I'm gonna go slow with this sewing.

Pillow cases are easy. So are curtains. You can do drapes if your good at following the directions on the drapery tape packages. Placemats with matching napkins are nice if you have the right zipper foot. Tie waist pants are super easy and nice for the summer months. Occassional tableclothes are nice too.

I don't want to discourage you from the chair project.....just wanted to let you know that there is more upholstering than sewing involved in the process.

no worries, I'm glad you discouraged me tamara. one thing at a time. I'll learn to sew, then If I want to upolestry, I'll learn that later. i'm not going to make the same mistake with sewing as I did with crochetting. there are plenty of simple things I can make that will be useful while I build some skill.
I've made two really nice sets of napkins. I'm playing around with my different stitches and learning what does what, and making something useful in the process. my zig zags weren't extreamly close to the edge and I'm getting some nice frays as they are washed! they're awesome!

I have found when working with sheets that quite often sheeting fabric is too thin or lightweight for the project I had in mind. So, I remedy that by keeping several rolls of interfacing on hand in various weights to give the sheet pieces more body.

Thus, you can use a sheet to make something like an appliance cover which really should have some substance to it, if you also use the interfacing.

It can also be used in collars, cuffs and a front placket where you want the garment to keep its shape but not in the body of the shirt or dress. Or in the waistband but not the skirt or pant itself.

Merme

U can make your own bias tape. Just decide how wide u want, double and then figure out how much of an edge u want and then just iron that little edge under and sew it on the napkins. Is a lot cheaper and not that hard to do. This way u can have some designed edges with solid center or visa versa. Good luck. It is nice to hear u r having so much fun with your machine. Mine just sits there waiting for me to do something with it.