How to Repurpose SHEETS into Quilts

Here are different ways you can turn thrift store sheets into quilts!

I love sewing with sheets from the thrift store!

It’s economical and earth friendly!

Here’s how to use sheets to make DIY quilts!

Use sheets for the quilt top, the backing, the binding, and even the batting in the middle of the quilt — I’ll show you how to do so below!

You can also watch me make quilts out of sheets in my cozy, slow living Youtube video.

One of these quilts is made entirely from thrift store sheets, which means the entire quilt was made with less than $10 of supplies.

The Quilt Top

This first quilt top is made with flannel sheets.

It has a very simple design, and I kept the quilt squares large, so it can be made quickly.

Of course, you can cut up sheets for any quilt square patterns!

Look for sheets that aren’t too worn out.

You can use lightweight cotton sheets, linen sheets, or cotton flannel sheets!

I suggest to steer clear of polyester or microfiber sheets if possible. It will make for a lesser quality quilt.

The Batting

This quilt has a cotton sheet in the middle of the quilt for batting.

If I did it over again, I would have used a cotton flannel sheet for the batting of this quilt instead of a lightweight cotton, but since this particular quilt top was made with a few cotton flannel sheets, it still had such a nice drape, weight, and airy warmth to it.

In general, I think the best sheet to use as batting for a quilt would be a cotton flannel sheet.

The Backing

Sheets make an excellent backing for quilts!

They’re one big piece of fabric that fit perfectly as the back of your quilt.

I do suggest sizing up your sheet size for whatever quilt size you’re making, because you will want to cut off the thick finished edges of your quilt before using it as the back of your quilt.

(So, if you’re making a twin sized quilt, use a full sized sheet!)

The Binding

You can also use sheets to make binding for your quilts.

For fitted sheets, first cut out the elastic off of the fitted sheet.

Then, cut the corners of the sheet so that it lays flat.

This makes it possible to use a rotary cutter and cutting board when cutting out the binding for the quilt.

I like to cut out strips of fabric that are 4″ wide for my binding.

Quilt Made With ONLY Sheets!

Here’s what my completed quilt looks like that is made with only sheets.

The top, batting, backing, and binding are all sheets!

I used a total of 6 sheets for this twin size quilt:

• 3 sheets for a varied quilt top (you’ll want more than one pattern/sheet!)
• 1 sheet for the batting
• 1 sheet for the backing
• 1 (partial) sheet for the binding

Quilt With A Sheet For The Backing

Here’s my sheet that I made traditionally, except for a sheet as the backing.

It’s a crib size sheet, and I needed less than a twin size sheet for the backing.

Quilt With A Sheet For The Binding

Here’s my twin size sheet I used a sheet for the binding on!

I used a small amount of a fitted sheet to make the binding for this quilt.

(probably roughly 1/3 of the quilt)

I hope this encourages you to repurpose thrift store sheets into quilts!

Happy sewing!