Tip -- Using Sheets to Make Garments

Can you use sheets as fabric to sew clothes?

IMHO solid colored sheets are great for many garments. I’ve used them to make shirts, dresses, flowy pants, PJs, nightgowns and even a bra, which I reviewed here.

The drape of sheets are often more similar to target fabric than actual muslin, which can be quite stiff. Per yard, sheets are often a LOT cheaper than muslin. Moreover, I like to sew wearable muslins so I can fit the pattern after wearing the test garment a time or four.

I think the reason garments made with old sheets look like old sheets is twofold: mismatch drape and outdated color combination.

The first is when the drape of the sheet does not match the drape of the fabric intended for the garment pattern. It is the same problem as with use of quilting cotton for garments. If the drape is similar, quilting cotton can be stunning in garments such as skirts and dresses. Not so much if the sewist uses quilting cotton in place of charmeuse or chiffon. Or knits.

The second problem is that sheets are often quite reflective of the Pantone color combination in Vogue when made. Color combos change a lot over time, but very, very gradually. When you see an old patterned sheet what dates the fabric is typically not the design, but the combination of colors. Flowers are flowers. Stripes are stripes. Lime green with bright yellow screams 1970s. Pale blue with dusty pink and brown screams 1980s. Solid colored sheets don’t typically have that degree risk of outdated colors. Especially solid white. The solid color may not be a modern Pantone color, but your eye does not date single colors as much as color combinations.

As long as the fabric in the sheet has the same general drape as the pattern you are using and you like the color, I don’t see a downside to trying it.