How to Sew Twin Sheets
Although consumers do not usually have access to the wide widths of fabric that bedding manufacturers have, you still can sew sheets at home for your twin bed. The trick to making homemade sheets look professional is the clever placement of nicely finished seams. When seams are made to lie along the edges of the mattress, they give the sheets a custom-made appearance.
Things You'll Need
- 9 1/2 yards of 45-inch wide cotton, cotton blend or flannel fabric
- Tape measure
- Scissors
- Iron
- Sewing machine
- Thread
- 3/4 yard of 1/4-inch elastic
- Straight pins
Instructions
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Flat sheet
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1
Cut one 40-by-102-inch strip of fabric and two 16-by-102-inch strips of fabric.
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2
With the wrong sides of the fabric together, pin the long edges of the 16-inch wide fabric strips to each long side of the 40-inch wide strip. Stitch along the length of each seam using 1/4-inch seams. You have created a 71-by-102-inch rectangle.
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3
Fold the fabric along the seams to bring the right sides of the fabric together. Stitch down the length of the seam 3/8 inch in from the fold. You have now completely encased the raw edges of the seam.
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4
Press the encased seam flat against the sheet. Topstitch through the sheet and the encased seam to create a flat seam.
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5
Fold under 1/2 inch on all sides of the sheet. Press. On the two long edges and one short edge, fold over again 1 inch to create hems. Using a straight stitch, sew along the hemlines. Fold over the remaining short edge 4 inches to create a wide hem for the top edge of the sheet. Press and stitch.
Fitted sheet
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6
Cut one 42-by-96-inch strip of fabric and two 78-by-9-inch strips of fabric.
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7
On each long side of the 96-inch strip, make a 1/4-inch snip 9 inches from the corner. With right sides of fabric together, pin the long edges of the two 78-inch strips to the long edges of the 96-inch strip between the snip marks. Sew using 1/2-inch seams. Finish seams by sewing over the edges with a zigzag stitch.
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8
Fold up the 9-inch extensions at the top and bottom of the center strip to bring together the side edges of the extensions and the side edges of the 78-inch strips. Stitch the 9-inch seams and zigzag the raw edges. This creates four corners.
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9
Fold up 1/4 inch twice around all four sides of the sheet to create a narrow hem. Press. Use a straight stitch to sew the hem.
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10
Cut four 8-inch pieces of elastic. Pin one stretched elastic section to the bottom edge of each corner of the sheet. While keeping the elastic stretched, zigzag through the elastic and the narrow hem. Release the elastic to create gathered corners.
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