Welcome to the first edition of This Old Bedsheet, wherein the crafty re-purposer makes all kinds of wondrous things with old bedsheets, fearlessly expanding her fledgling sewing skills, saving the earth, and looking something like stylish while she does it.
Today we have a queen size, oatmeal colored jersey knit flat sheet. It’s first re-incarnation is as a long sleeved, cowl neck tee shirt.
Cowl neck shirts are tres elegant, I think, even when homemade on a whim. This one could be a little more low cut, or drapey, or something. Perhaps somebody reading knows how to achieve that look?
To make this one I took a t shirt that I currently tolerate the fit of, and cut it out with a little extra room in the seam allowance. The neck line, as you can see, was ignored in favor of this big tube shape.
I sewed up the sides to where the sleeve begins, and had marked with a pin where the sleeves should end. Then resumed sewing to close the tube. A sleeveless cowl tee would have been done at this point.
The stitch I use for sewing knit fabrics is an outline stretch stitch. (It looks like a lightning bolt on the settings.) This is super strong, stretches, and best of all looks like a straight stitch on the right side of the fabric. Zigzag is also plenty fine, but I tend to break those seams in everyday wear and tear.
To make the sleeves I used my “pattern” shirt to shape the curve, and another long sleeve shirt to get the rest of the shape down. It didn’t come out perfectly at first–kind of bunchy and misshapen. I ended up cutting out about an inch of fabric where the sleeve joins the shirt, and it is fine. A little strange to sew a sleeve onto something without an actual shoulder, but I lived to tell the tale.
The neck and sleeve openings were left raw. I used the bottom bedsheet seam to give a finished look to the bottom seams of the shirt and avoid fussing over pins and my twin needle.
Voila!
Kyce Bello 
I made a set of lovely pajamas for my child!
Love it Kyce! I am inspired! I am loving your recent posts and the new look of the site! xoxo
LOL, beautiful!
Kyce, I love this- cowl necks are beautiful. I think the size of your cowl is perfect. I want to make one for me now!!
Hi!
I’ve been reading your blog for some time now but I don’t think I’ve ever posted.
Shy? Maybe a bit… But it so happens that I do know how to make your collar “little more low cut, or drapey, or something”!
I think your top looks great as is but if you wanted a different style, your main piece needs to be wider not higher.
Imagine you took your shirt cut down the middle and spread it out. The more you spread the halfs apart the more drapey and low cut your collar will be. Just make sure the collar line is straight, no need for a curve here.
Was that understandable?
Since I’m here, I guess I’ll say how much I enjoy your writing and ideas, I’m always looking forward to new posts!!!
I hope you’ll stay inspired!
Thank you so much for saying hello–it’s always lovely to hear from readers. And especially, thank you for your tip. I think I understand–but wonder, does just the collar get flared out like that, or the whole shirt front? Fortunately, there is plenty of sheet left to experiment with!
If you just flare our the collar it won’t b e more low cut. You need to flare out thre whole front of the shirt. If you don’t there will be a bit of a pleat just at above the chest… Anyhow have fun experimenting, there are all kinds of different variations out there.
many thanks!
Your shirt turned out great! I love experimental sewing and I happen to have a jersey sheet sitting under my sewing table just waiting to be transformed into something more interesting. Thanks for the inspiration!