DIY Pottery Barn Inspired Bedskirt with Pleats

Feb 7, 2013 by Mary Anne

I have been on a search for bed skirts for a long time now, a Queen size for our guest room and a California King for our master bedroom.  Not only are they expensive but the ones I’ve seen are just way too frilly.  I’m really not about ruffles when it comes to my bedskirt, you know.  So what’s a girl to do?  I visited Pottery Barn online and saw these beauties.  I simply fell in love.  They are simple and I love the pleats.  The problem is that it would cost me $75 for the California King and $60 for the Queen size.  Not only that but if there’s one thing I detest about these bedskirts is that…THEY SHIFT all over the place!  I decided to get creative and make my own DIY bedskirt with pleats.  Here’s my inspiration for the bedskirt, courtesy of you know who.

 

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The bedskirt I’m making is for my queen size bed in the guest room.  It requires minimal sewing and I promise you that it really is easy.  If you don’t want to sew, you can even use a fusible bonding web which I talked about in this post.  

Here is my bed without a skirt.  Eeekkk.  I can’t believe she went on for so long without one on.  Is that a can of paint under that bed?  Oh my!

 For this project, I am using a flat twin sheet from Ikea that I purchased for $3.99.  Here is what the package looks like.  I am also using a white Queen fitted sheet that I already have in my linen closet.

                                                                                                                             

Directions:

1.  Because of the configuration of this room, this bed is pushed against a wall, which means only one side and the foot of the bed are exposed.  The first thing I did is measure the length and height of those exposed sides.

Long side measurement- 82 inches long  by 23 inches high (hem allowance included)

Foot of the bed- 60 inches long by 23 inches high (hem allowance included)

2.  The Knoppa flat sheet that I’m using at Ikea measures 98 inches long which is perfect.  My length is 82 inches, which means I would have 16 inches to work with for the pleat that I wanted to place in the middle.  Also because all 4 sides of this flat sheet are already hemmed, the only part really that I will need to sew is the part that I cut (just one side).  Less work for me.  ***I wanted to add that as you can tell from the picture below, this material is pretty thin.  I ended up doubling mine because it was too sheer for me.  Because I only had two sides to work on, 1 Twin flat sheet was more than enough.  I actually had left over materials.

                                         

 

3.  Sew the cut (raw edge) to prevent fraying.

4.  Now for the pleat… I had 16 inches left over to work with.  I folded my fabric in the middle and marked that middle point for my pleat.  I know that the picture below shows me measuring it 5 inches from the center.  I forgot to take pictures and this one is actually pictures for the foot of the bed part of the bedskirt.  For mine, it should actually be 8 inches from the center.

5.  I wanted to make sure that the pleat wouldn’t come undone when I put the bedskirt together so I sewed this part.

So that is the long side of the bedskirt.  You will then do the same for the foot of the bed.  I know most of you will probably have 3 exposed areas (2 long sides and foot of the bed) with the head of the bed up against a headboard (not seen)

6.  So what do we do with the fitted sheet?  I used the fitted sheet to cover my mattress box.  I’ve always disliked that the mattress box (bottom one that you put your actual mattress on) is exposed.  It’s also going to serve a special purpose.  This is where you will safety pin your bedskirt.  Yes, you heard me right!  Safety pin those babies to the fitted sheet.  This way, you can easily change your bedskirt when you get tired of it or if you want to change it to a fun print.  I basically safety pinned it every foot or so.  Or if you are not me and you don’t have “stuff” under your bed, you can just put the fitted sheet on the mattress box and call it a day!  Sorry for the poor pictures.  These were taken at night and the mattress was so heavy to take pics of the mattress box.

Here’s pictures of the finished DIY Bedskirt with pleats!

 

In case you’re wondering or if they look familiar to you…YES those pillows (2 stripes in the back and 2 smaller ones in the front) are made out of THESE.  I washed them and used fabric softener on them and yes, they are soft.  Not rough at all.

 

 

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

 

 

Linking this to:

 

The Shabby Creek Cottage