The Sheet and Duvet Fabric Order

Sew a whole bed from one bolt: the mattress measured rather than named, the topper counted in the depth, the shrinkage taken from a washed swatch, every cut laid against the washed width, and the fitted sheet, flat sheet and duvet cover added into one order, rounded once

LawnLinen's free Bedding Size Calculator gives the cut sizes for a fitted sheet, a flat sheet and a duvet cover, and buys fabric for the cover only. It sizes a US bed by its name, so a UK King-size (150 x 200 cm) entered as King gets a fitted sheet 17 in too wide; its depth is whatever you type, so a topper goes uncounted; and nothing adds the three pieces into one order. Writing this plan we also fixed the calculator: it told you to pre-wash and then bought cover fabric for the unwashed length, counted two 45 in widths as a 90 in panel when the join takes an inch, and printed a king fitted-sheet cut wider than the fabric without saying so. The plan measures the bed you actually have, takes the shrinkage from a washed swatch, lays every cut against the washed width (along, turned, or pieced with an inch for each join), adds the washed lengths, divides by what the wash keeps and rounds once, then prices the whole order at each fabric width. In the worked example a US Queen with a 12 in mattress and a 2 in topper takes 12 1/2 yd of 118 in sheeting with no seams, or 17 3/4 yd of 108 in sheeting with a seam in each sheet: at the example prices the wider cloth costs $4.00 more a yard and $23.50 less for the order. Every figure is computed by the calculator's own code, and every bed, swatch and price in it is an example for you to replace. It is not a sewing pattern and not for crib, bassinet, cradle or play yard sheets. Inside: 7 steps, 4 printable working pages, a reference table for every US size, a quickstart, and a personalised sheet worked from the numbers you enter in the Bedding Size Calculator.

Look inside

Two full pages from the plan, exactly as printed. Click either to read it at full size before you decide.

What is in it

• Step 1: the bed measured, not named, with US and UK sizes side by side (Which?) and what a UK King-size does to a US King cut
• Step 2: the depth measured to the top of the topper, and the fitted and flat cuts by depth against two sheeting widths
• Step 3: shrinkage from a washed swatch, taken off the width as well as the length, and what 0 to 10% does to one order
• Step 4: every cut laid against the washed width: along, turned or pieced, and the close miss worth trimming
• Step 5: the duvet cover's panels and joins at six fabric widths, an inch for every join, and when to turn them
• Step 6: the washed lengths added, divided by what the wash keeps, and rounded once at the counter
• Step 7: the whole order priced at each width, two sets as one cut, one bolt
• Four working pages: bed sheet, swatch and fabric sheet, cut list, order card
• A reference table: one set for every US size at 10 in and 14 in deep on 108 in and 118 in sheeting, with the cuts behind it
• A quickstart, and a personalised sheet worked from your own calculator inputs

The plan picks up where the free Bedding Size Calculator leaves off. The calculator gives the cut sizes for one US bed and the fabric for its duvet cover; the plan measures the bed you actually have (topper and all), takes the shrinkage from a washed swatch, lays the fitted sheet, flat sheet and cover panels against the washed width, adds them into one order rounded once, and prices that order at each fabric width. Every figure in it is an example for you to replace.