Comments on: How can I repair tears in sheets & bed linen?

By: Medeea

Medeea — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 21:15:19 +0000

Zigzag stitch works best. You need to add a strip of reinforce material underneath.

By: Bedding

Bedding — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 05:34:37 +0000

This is the common problem that usually happens. I would like to suggest the sewing is the cheap and best method to fix this problem. But you assign this work to a person who is good hand in stiching.

By: Kara

Kara — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:59:36 +0000

Cipollina’s comment reminds me of the best way to deal with tears in bed linens: pay attention to thread count and weave structure when you buy them! Sure, linen sheets are durable, but it takes years for them to become as soft and comfortable as cotton and they are also weakened by bleach and the agitation of washing machines just as cotton sheets are. A higher thread count often commands a higher price, but uses much thinner (and therefore fragile) threads to make each square inch of the fabric. A firm plain weave keeps the individual threads from wear and tear much better than sateen weave or even a standard twill. I have noticed that my 800-thread count sateen stripe sheets would snag, then tear, along the boundaries of the stripes where the weave structure changes because the threads are looser there. However, those sheets have lasted for years with only a few repairs! Only one of them has been retired in over five years of use, and most of it is still going as crib sheets and tea towels.

Anyway, my mother reminded me of the simplest way to sew up a tear in fabric that hasn’t frayed very much yet. Just lay the fabric so the edges of the tear are together, and use a machine zig-zag stitch across the tear. Hand sewing is usually faster for me than wrestling a fitted sheet or duvet cover onto the machine for a small tear. Depends on your comfort level with hand sewing, I guess.

By: Cipollina

Cipollina — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:53:34 +0000

I have found that *linen* linen are best. I got several sheets after my hubby’s great grandmother that are still in tip top shape despite being about 100 years old, whereas the cotton sheets we’ve received as gifts over the years are all torn – even the fancy expensive quality ones.

After fixing the first two or three tears, mine always seem to get bunches of tears at once all of a sudden, and then I give them to the dog instead of fixing them any further.

And, how come the tears are almost always L-shaped?!

By: Marti

Marti — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:26:50 +0000

I have repaired more linens than I care to count! If you use the regular iron on patches, they tend to be stiff. First I would treat each side of the tear with a bit of a compound that is designed to keep seams from fraying. I don’t know the trade name, but you can find it in most fabric centers. Then I would use the darning method mentioned above, but with a light hand. Don’t try to fill in the entire space with thread, but use enough to make a strong bond. Then I would applique a contrasting design over the top of the mend. and I would look for other places where I might put a similar applique or two so that it looks like you have a custom made duvet cover. May sound like a lot of work, but it could be a creative opportunity as well. If none of that sounds like something you want to do, ask a Grandmother in the neighborhood if she would like to darn it for you! I have many antique linens that have mended places, and each spot makes we wonder who might have so carefully cared for the linen before it came to me.

By: Katrina Foulkes-Taylor

Katrina Foulkes-Taylor — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:11:03 +0000

I would definitely use a stick on patch on the inside of the quilt cover unless you are an expert at hand stitching. If you are like me and not an expert it will look terrible and pull in all the wrong places. You can buy quality quilt covers online discounted with minimal postage attached and also save yourself some money in the future. There are even such things as organic bed sheets and organic quilt covers on the market. Good luck, Katrina

By: Kara

Kara — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:10:40 +0000

I’m with Anna on the sewing. Iron-on patches and tapes will not hold up to the kind of laundering bed linens get! However, I usually repair with darning. It can be done by hand or machine; it’s basically rows of running stitch parallel and perpendicular to the tear.
http://www.shojistyles.com/crafts/aag-table-linen.htm describes the process in more detail.

By: anna

anna — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:31:10 +0000

Old fashioned sewing is the best!
I’ve done that to some bedsheet – that were ripped thanks to some cats, or overused of a few decades of use (when something is really nice, then it really will be used for a while)…

There are basically three methods you can use – and all of these will work also if you have to hand stitch them (if you don’t own a sewing machine etc):

- patch with fabric under the tear, and sue it as invisibly as you can (or visibly – looks great sometimes that way too)

- patch with matching or different fabric on top of tear.

For either of these methods, if you have any of that glueable thin fabric that is used e.g. for shirt collars, using a tiny bit of that between the old and new fabric just around the tear would not be a bad idea. (works without too, so if you don’t have, don’t worry)
Make sure the sheet fabric is stitched together, so that the tear area can’t tear any bigger. After years of use and dozens of washes, a small tear can grow. If you are worried that the sewing of the ripped part would look odd, add the patch on top of the fabric, so you can only see that.

- do reverse applique – http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/03/how-to_reverse_appliqu.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954 you can do this also fully by hand, as sewing in the middle of bedsheet can be difficult with sewing machine

Also this technique for patching jeans would probably look attractive http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/03/how-to_patching_pants_with_sty.html I would probably use this method myself. This is definitely the strongest bind for the fabrics. Just find some fabric of the same thickness or a bit thinner, same material (cotton usually), and of a color that looks nice with it, if it’s not the same color, and then with some thread that matches or complements it. You could even use some fancy threads to add some nice touch.