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There’s nothing quite as annoying as a fitted sheet that just won’t stay, well, fitted! Waking up in the night with a corner undone and the sheet bunched up under you is not restful. Having to put the sheet back on every morning is just frustrating.
Fixing this is actually really easy and if you’re new to sewing, don’t worry. No one will see it when it’s done – it’ll be tucked under your mattress where it belongs. All you need is some elastic – 1/4″ would be best, but 3/8″ will work too. Anything bigger would be too bulky.
Then you need to figure out how much elastic you need. Measure another corner (hopefully all your corners aren’t flat). Currently the elastic goes about 11″ beyond the corner. I decided that I want mine to go 15″ beyond to hopefully help it stay in place better. I’m very exact when I measure elastic….no, I’m really not! I held one end of the elastic at the 15″ mark and gently stretched it to the end of the tape measure. Then I doubled it so it would stretch from one end to the other. Mine ended up being around 18.”
Fold the elastic in half and mark the middle (I use a highlighter). Clip it to the seam at the corner.
Measure from the corner seam out however far you cut your elastic (15″ in my case) and clip the end there. Do the same for the other end of the elastic.
Here you can see how the elastic will need to be stretched as I sew.
You want to sew the elastic with a stretch stitch or a zigzag so that stretching it doesn’t pop the stitches. You will also want a ball point needle otherwise your machine will make a mess of the elastic. Gently stretch the elastic as you sew. I hold the sheet and elastic near the middle clip and stretch from there so I get a nice even stretch.
Next, admire your beautiful work. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect (mine looks a little wonky in spots) – no one will see it and it will still work!
Finally, make your bed and know that in the morning all the corners will still be tucked in.
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