While I love to DIY, you may have noticed that my DIY projects rarely involve a sewing machine. That would be because my sewing abilities are limited to sewing a simple stitch in a straight kinda straight line. So when I couldn't find a bedskirt that I liked for my daughter's newly redone room, sewing one was definitely not plan A. But after striking out on finding one I liked, needing to get the room done ASAP for the One Room Challenge, and realizing that the cute polka dot sheet set I just bought from HomeGoods (with no thought of a bedskirt at the time) looked better than I expected with my daughter's new duvet, plan B (aka turning my polka dot flat sheet into a bedskirt) was born.
What convinced me to take the plunge is realizing that the finished edges around the flat sheet would work perfectly for the bottom edge of a bedskirt so there actually wasn't going to be that much sewing involved. I've seen some great DIY sewn bedskirts (like {this awesome one} that my much-better-sewer-than-me-friend Jennifer made) but when push comes to shove, I get too intimidated when too much sewing is involved. Also, using a flat sheet was cheap and I loved that I would be able to throw it in the wash when needed. It turned out to be a much simpler project than I ever would have expected and I LOVE that the bedskirt fits the bed perfectly and looks custom-made (because, well...it is!).
Here's the how-to on this simple DIY: 1. If your sheet is new, wash it first. {A huge perk of the flat sheet-turned-bedskirt is that if something gets on one of the bedskirt panels, you can just spot treat it and throw it in the washer BUT since the fabric might shrink the first time it's washed, wash & shrink it before making it into your bedskirt.} 2. Figure out a few measurements (the size of your flat sheet and the size of your box spring) and get your math on to figure out how you're going to cut the panel sizes that you need out of your sheet. You will need two side panels that each measure the length of the of the box spring (from the head to the foot of the bed) plus 5", one end panel that measures the width of the box spring minus 2", and two corner panels that are each about 16" wide. If you have a standard height bed, make each of your panels about 16-18" tall. For taller beds, make the panels a few inches taller (the height doesn't need to be exact). {I was able to use an oversized full sheet to make a bedskirt for a full bed but sheets are not consistently sized so check your measurements before buying your sheet to make sure you don't have to go up a sheet size.} Here's the plan that I went with for cutting out the panels for my bedskirt:
When you're planning the cutting of your panels, keep in mind that most flat sheets have a wider folded edge at the top of the sheet. If you want to avoid using the wider folded edge as as one of the pre-finished edges on your two side panels, take that into account. I used the wider folded edge as the edge of each side panel that is closest to the head of the bed and actually like the look of it:
So that you have the least amount of sewing to do, plan the cutting of your panels in a way that most of the edges that will show are pre-finished edges. With my layout, all I ended up having to sew was a few short stitches to make each of the three pleats (more on that in a minute) and three short straight lines (in pink). All of the other cuts (in green) won't show on the finished bedskirt so can remain unfinished:
3. It's time to get the sewing machine out and sew the few edges that need sewing (or you can cheat and use Stitch Witchery - I won't tell!) along with a box pleat in the center of each of the two side panels and the end panel. Did I just lose you there with the mention of box pleats? No worries - I used Jennifer's tutorial of how to make them {here} and it was super easy! Each pleat will end up looking like this:
4. Once all of your panels are sewn or Stitch Witched up, give them a quick iron before putting them on the bed. 5. Put the two corner pieces on the bed first, centering them on the corner, wrapping them around both sides, and then pinning them in place at the top of the box spring. I used simple straight pins with large heads to do my pinning but you can buy bedskirt pins if you want to hold the panels on even more securely. After your corner pieces are pinned in place, you can pin your foot and side panels in place, overlapping the corner piece.
No one will ever know if the edges of those corner pieces are left all ratty since they'll be covered up:
And....we're done! The whole project was finished in less than two hours (with a big chunk of that time spent on the measuring, layout, and ironing). I seriously don't think I'll ever buy a pre-made bedskirt again.
As always, thanks so much for stopping by! Don't forget that Best of the Nest is on Friday - come on over and share your favorite project of the month and check out what everyone else has been up to! Looking forward to it!
