Photo courtesy of Tader Doodles.
The following is a guest post by Lisa from Chaos Appreciation.
I am a bit of a pack rat. I would call myself a hoarder except I feel that “hoarding” implies a compulsion. I’m not compulsive, I am frugal. If I don’t have time to really think about what I’m decluttering, I can clear a closet pretty fast. If I have time, I end up on the floor in front of the closet googling all the cool things I could make with whatever I’m trying to declutter.
Last week it was sheets. My husband found me in a pile of sheets that lost their elastic or were for bed sizes we no longer owned. I was sitting on the pile with my laptop bookmarking all the creative ways I could turn those old sheets into new treasures. Then I started making a list of all the ideas I came up with on my own. Your linen closet is a great place to find fabric for your sewing projects!
Here are some of my favorites:
Quilt Backing
Toddler Sheets – Easy with Fold Over Elastic! If you don’t have Fold Over Elastic, here is another tutorial showing regular elastic.
Pillowcase Dresses – just add ribbon! There are a ton of tutorials available online.
Curtains – I’ve been known to buy two sets of sheets just so I could make matching curtians.
Shopping Bags – This link on Spider Woman Knits uses pillowcases. But you could easily measure out pillowcase sized rectagles from the sheet and make more!
Linings – Purses, water bottle holders, diaper bags and more; use your sheets as the lining fabric that no one ever sees.
Washable Tissues – Great with flannel sheets…no red noses! Just cut into 6” or 8” squares and serge or hem.
Pajama Pants – Perfect with vintage prints!
Toddler Tent- Kelly at An Apple and A Tree was awesomely creative with this one!
You don’t have to be a seamstress to upcycle your bed linens. Old sheets make great picnic blankets or beach blankets. They work great for table cloths and drop cloths when kids are crafting or painting. I would recommend doubling up the sheet if you are painting, so that the paint doesn’t seep through.
This summer I am looking forward to once again clothespinning sheets on our clothesline to make summer tents and hideouts for the kids. Our creative bunch over here love to act and put on shows. One of our planned crafts this summer is to paint backdrops on some of our old flat sheets: castles, fields, barns, oceans and more!
Now I have a clean linen closet and a garbage bag of sheets in my garage just waiting for warmer weather. Upcycling is my favorite way to be frugal. Bed linens are my favorite item to upcycle because of their versatility and availability! If you don’t have any to spare you can always find some at a yard sale or thrift store for a dollar or two.
Have you ever upcycled your sheets? What have you made? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Lisa is a Christian home educating wife and mother of four chaos makers! She blogs regularly about her life with the Daddy Principal Man, the Princesses and her Lil Man at Chaos Appreciation ; or for giggles and chaos in real time she is TaderDoodles on twitter.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you so much for including my Crib Sheet Tutorial in your list!! Whenever I find cute sheets, I upcycle them into whatever I can! This week? It’s backing for a rug to go in front of our door!
I use my sheets that have lost their elastic to make matching pillow cases, shams with ruffles or without and throw pillows for on a bed. This saves a lot of money. You can get several pillow cases out of a queen or king size sheet. If you wear an apron in the kitchen…they make very nice aprons also. (I buy sheets for curtains…LOL.)
This has really got me thinking as we have sheets we no longer use as the elastic is shot and they are filled with holes. I’ve tried using them for cleaning clothes but to no avail… I am looking forward to further suggestions aside from shopping bags. (we are past the crib sheets and small child stage). Thanks a ton!!
I bought sheets at Ikea ($2.99 each) for curtains.
This is funny! I was cleaning out my linen closet today!
I had a Batman birthday party and all the children got to decorate their own capes. 12 kids, the cheapest way was to use the old sheets I was about to donate. PERFECT!
I use old sheets to cover my dog’s bed. I bought a nice dog bed with a zip-off cover for easy-cleaning… trouble is it is isn’t easy to get back on. Now I use sheets on the dog bed- sheets are a snap to remove, wash, and re-tuck! This technique has definitely prolonged the life of our dog’s bed & made life much easier.
Hi Lisa
you have really great ideas here. I never upcycled my sheets but maybe I’ll take one of your ideas now
I use old sheets outside in the fall to rake my leaves onto. Just tie opposite corners together and they’re ready to take to the compost. Can even do this in the trunk of your car as there isn’t a mess and they’re easy to haul.
What a great tip! Thanks Gloria!
I’ve been known to BUY old sheets at garage sales, etc. for just about everything – especially gardening. They make great sun-shades for sensitive plants during droughts and to protect from frost in spring and fall. Of course, there’s the clothesline or clothes-rack tent, too…my 3-year-old LOVES to hang out under there. And when it’s warm out but there aren’t many leaves yet, the dog gets a little shade with his own tent.