Altering fitted sheet from King- to Queen-size?

13 years ago

I found a lovely (dusty purple!) set of king size sheets for an amazingly low price. So low I had to get them, even though my bed is a queen size.

The bottom sheet is a problem. Of course, it's too wide and too long. The corner seams don't meet at the corners of the bed. I make the bed neatly, tucking all the excess material under the mattress, but the bottom sheet takes on a life of it's own. It's rumply and crumply and a wrinkled mess in the morning.

What would be the best way to re-sew this sheet so it fits the queen size matteress as it should?

The top sheet is not a problem. I'm going to trim about eight inches off of one long side and put a narrow hem along that edge. That takes care of the width, which is just too close to the floor to leave it as is.

The length is fine, especially since I like a deep turn over at the top of the sheet.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

FlamingO in AR
13 years ago
Get a featherbed and toss it on top of your mattress. Then the fitted sheet will be almost perfect! I buy and use King sized sheets just for that purpose, because I have a featherbed on the Queen guest bed.

Don't want to do that? Put the sheet on the mattress, inside out. Pull up the excess, pin or mark in all the corners and then resew the box seams. You'll have more to tuck under the mattress, but that's OK.
hayjud_mn
13 years ago
I have one set of King for our Queen. Like you, I have no problem with the flat sheet on top, because I like it long on the sides.
The fitted sheet I just turned sideways and it fits nicely from top to bottom. I pull it snug on Tom's side and, my side of the bed faces away from the door, so I just tuck under all that extra on just that one side. It doesn't stay in place as well as one that fits right, but THE PRICE WAS RIGHT!
Related Discussions
Just curious -- do you have a king or a queen sized bed?
Q
Comments (39)
Thanks again for all the great responses here. I'm happy to report that just tonight I finally made my decision and ordered a king! I went with the Novaform memory foam from Costco (they're on sale this week). I'm a bit nervous -- a bed seems like such a crucial purchase and it's so easy to get wrong -- but I feel like anything will be better than our tired old mattress. I need to decide what sort of actual bed to get with it. Since we previously had a queen I can't use the same box springs with the new mattress. I realize no box spring is necessary, but we don't even have a bed frame of any kind. We may buy a really nice bed sometime in the future, but for now I just want to sleep comfortably! I suppose it will be okay on the floor for a while, but I'll need to think of something pretty quickly. I don't think my poor old knees could take getting out a bed on the floor for too long! Thanks again for your input -- it really helped our decision-making process.
...See More
Rethinking king size bed for master- anyone regret their queen?
Q
Comments (66)
If you have the room for it King is always better! But just keep in mind its always harder to downsize once you’re used to it. we upgraded from Queen to King when I was pregnant with my second kid.. i was already feeling cramped with one kid kicking me.. fast forward to now Ive separated/divorced and I let ex hubby keep King bed but i got myself a Cal King out of wanting to keep the space i was used to and my littlest still bed sharing… my current home has small bedrooms and i am now considering downgrading to a queen to have more room in my master bedroom, but i dont want to give up all the room.. wish i didnt get used to it now, because my bed takes up most of the room 😭
...See More
Flat sheets instead of fitted?
Q
Comments (15)
I've never found it hard to buy fitted sheets for our beds (both queen) and they are deep mattresses. I don't spend a lot either ie) $40 or so. I get them from Sears clearance or Home Outfitters and haven't had any issues yet. I do notice that the fitted ones with the elastics that are opposite from the old way, top to bottom vs across the top/bottom are the way they are made and they are very simple to put on. I remember struggling to get them to fit my bed as a teenager LOL. OMG......hospital corners!!! That is the reason I only use fitted, I did so many of those and hated it. My first job was a chambermaid and later I went to nursing school. Funny the nurses don't do sheets anyway, the cleaning staff do but we had to do those over and over with NO wrinkles and TIGHT! LOL : ) And I'm not over 40, I can't imagine how many sheets nurses did for practice years ago
...See More
Guest room queen vs. king bed?
Q
Comments (57)
I like all of your upholstered choices shown. I think they will work nicely with your desk and do have an elegant feel, although I've always been partial to iron beds. If you're still looking at iron beds I can recommend Charles P Rogers. Great customer service and my daybed is high quality with a beautiful hand painted finish, much like the antique iron bed I have in DD"s room. I had a Wesley Allen and have seen RH beds - all nice but they don't seem to be as heavy and sturdy as my Charles P Rogers bed. Another iron bed company I'm interested in is Brass Beds of Virginia but I haven't seen those in person.
...See More
Lindsey_CA
13 years ago
Get some sheet garters. They'll hold the bottom sheet in place.
ruthieg__tx
13 years ago
I would do it pretty much like Flamingo..Put it on the bed and tuck and pinch it till it fits and then pin or baste it....I would mostly be concerned with the corners...and just tuck the rest. You might be able to just redo the corners with elastic at the proper spot and tuck in the rest.
petaloid
13 years ago
If you check how loose the sheet is you should be able to guess-timate how much to take in the four corner seams. That should help the extra material stay underneath the mattress.

We like the sheet garters lindsay describes -- if you clip those underneath they should help too. I found them inexpensively at BB&B.
blitzyblond_protege
13 years ago
When I was checking into sheet (as a housewarming gift) for my younger DB bed I found that J. C. Penney had some sheets in their catalog that was suppose to fit any thing from a standard mattress to a 23" deep "pocket". When I found them 45 miles away They were just sheets with really tight elastic all the way around. So only a tiny area of the underside of the mattress shows when they are on.

OR

I placed the sheet (inside out) so it is snug on one side. then I marked the point where each of the sloppy corners SHOULD be. Then I cut the excess and hemmed.

They were a psychedelic late 60's pattern in brilliant shades of orange, but I was trying to rebuild from a divorce and they were free.

Good luck,

l.marie
janie_ga
13 years ago
We should trade linens. I have about three sets of queen sheets but we only have two king size beds!

I like the idea of turning it inside out and tacking until you can get it to the sewing machine. Thant is what I do with my clothes that need altering.
joyfulguy
13 years ago
Dad used to say that if a rope was too short, a person could splice it ...

... but if it were too long ... he was as a loss as to what to do with it.

That was about the time that we were making a production out of what appeared to Dad as a matter that lacked major importance.

I like the idea of pinning it at the size that you think fitting, prior to re-sewing.

Probably a tape measure could help, also.

ole joyful
cynic
13 years ago
The sheet garters seem like the simplest idea. Turn it so it fits the one way as suggested and put the straps on it.

You could always ask Harry & Sam to do a tug-o-war with it to get it down to the right size.

And there's always the Handyman's Secret Weapon. (AKA the silver miracle, gray gold, bachelor's sewing kit, a roll of bolts or a myriad of other names. Some even call it duct tape!)
joyfulguy
13 years ago
Right!

As Cynic says ... another use for duct tape!

Totalling about 957, isn't it?

ole joyful

Altering fitted sheet from King- to Queen-size?

Comments (10)

FlamingO in AR

hayjud_mn

Related Discussions

Lindsey_CA

ruthieg__tx

petaloid

blitzyblond_protege

janie_ga

joyfulguy

cynic

joyfulguy

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US