How To Make A Bed Skirt From A Flat Sheet
This quick and easy tutorial shows you how to make a bed skirt using a flat sheet. The simple, no-sew tutorial you can make in thirty minutes or less.
I don’t know if it is just me, but I can never seem to find a bed skirt that I like.
And if I do manage to find a bed skirt that looks cute with my bedding, it is always too short, too long, too poofy, something.
So when I started pulling my sons’ cute shared bedroom together, I knew I wanted to learn how to make a bed skirt from a flat sheet.
Why a flat sheet? Well, I know this brings out strong opinions, but in our house, we don’t use flat sheets on our beds.
I used to put the flat sheet on everyone’s beds but they just ended up wadded up under the duvet and made making the beds take that much longer.
Since sheets usually come in a set, I have a linen closet full of cute flat sheets that we never use – and they just happen to be the perfect thing for making bed skirts!
But if you love your flat sheets and don’t have a closet full of them, you can still easily make your own bed skirt.
There are lots of places where you can buy flat sheets separately pretty affordably.
Ready for the best part? This involves absolutely no sewing. Not only that, you don’t even have to cut your sheet at all.
So later on, if you want to use it for something else, no problem. It will still be completely intact (with a few extra pinholes).
Some links in this post are affiliate links. See my full disclosure here.
Supplies for making your own bed skirt
- A flat sheet (I used the sheet from this adorable arrow sheet set)
- Upholstery twist pins (sometimes these are even called bed skirt pins)
That’s it! Just two things!
How to make a bed skirt from a flat sheet
This is seriously easy. First, you simply drape the sheet over your box spring or bed platform or whatever surface is below your mattress.
I used a twin sheet to make a bed skirt for a twin bed and it was the perfect length, but if your bed is on the higher side, you may need to use a sheet in a larger size.
Adjust the sheet so that the edges just brush the floor on any sides that will be visible.
In my case, that was the bottom and the side that isn’t against the wall.
As you can see, the problem is the corners, but they are pretty easy to deal with.
If you have a lot of fabric, simply fold it up on top of the box spring where it will be covered by the mattress.
Use upholstery pins to secure the sheet to the top of the box spring, an inch or two from the edges.
As you can see the pins are twisty, so you simply twist them into place.
I used a pin every 12 inches or so along all of the sides of the box spring to keep everything secure. (This is also great for keeping the bed skirt in place when you are moving the mattress around to change the fitted sheet later on.)
As you can see, once you twist the pin into place, it is hardly noticeable at all.
Now to deal with the corners.
Pull all of the extra fabric at the corner straight across to one side.
Use two pins, to secure the fabric in place as shown below.
You want the extra fabric to smoothly fall over the pinned section. If it isn’t falling quite right, just adjust the placement of your pins.
Not bad, but there are a few more steps to give it a nice tailored look. Use a pin to secure the top of the corner.
If you have any spare fabric pooling like in the photo below, fold it under the bed skirt and pin it to the box spring out of sight.
Finally, if you want it to look just a bit more smooth and tailored, you can run an iron over the seam to give it a nice crease.
You can also add another pin farther down the seam if needed.
Then just repeat the process for any other corners of your bed that are visible.
For the corners that are hidden by a wall, I simply pinned the extra fabric out of sight between the box spring and wall.
It might seem like a lot of steps when they are all written out like this, but the whole bed skirt takes 20 minutes or less.
And for a custom bed skirt in the exact fabric you want, that fits your bed perfectly that’s not bad!
striped comforter set, arrow sheets, gray sheets
I skipped ironing the seam on the second bed (above) and it definitely shows.
Whoops! Better go back and take care of that.
I am really happy with how these simple bed skirts turned out. So much that I’m planning to do the same thing in the master bedroom.
I’ll keep you updated on any new tips, tricks, or issues I run into along the way!
Before you go, if you missed my boys’ room reveal, you have got to see it.
It might just be my favorite room in the house!
Have a great week!
How To Make A Bed Skirt From A Flat Sheet
Learn how to make your own DIY bed skirt using a flat sheet. It's budget-friendly and no-sew!
Materials
- Flat Bed Sheet
- Upholstery Pins
Tools
- Iron
Instructions
- Drape the sheet over your box spring or bed platform.
- Adjust the sheet so that the edges just brush the floor.
- Use upholstery pins to secure the sheet to the top of the box spring, every 12 inches or so.
- Pull the extra fabric at each corner straight across to the side.
- Use two pins to secure the fabric in place and one pin to secure the top of the corner.
- Run an iron over the seam to give it a nice crease.
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Google Web Story: DIY Bed Skirt From A Flat Sheet
You had me at “no sewing” :). Seriously, we are a no top sheet family, too, and I love this idea!
Thanks Gretchen! It really does feel good to finally have something to do with all the top sheets in our linen closet!
Love the idea! Im doin this! Thank you.. !
Yay! We are still loving ours!
How about for a platform bedframe where there’s no boxspring? How could that be done as a no sew?
I am not sure. I know that a lot of people just don’t use a bed skirt with a platform bed but of course the downside is you lose all of that storage space under the bed.
Desperately looking for cheap bed skirt for my girl’s bed room
As my mind change very oftenly so didnt want to spend too much money.
Were googling from where i can find cheap came to see ur idea and its mind blowing.
I am using curtain coz it cost me cheap and matched the colour with bed sheet wanted to see corners end
Absolutely wonderful job live it
I am so glad you found my idea! It is crazy how expensive bed skirts can be – and the options are so limited!
Yes! My eyes are bloodshot from perusing websites for a reasonably inexpensive, decent looking bedskirt in twin XL. Nada. I am doing this right now! Was anticipating a sewing project, (which is not the worst thing in the world, people!) But will try this first!
We also don’t bother with top sheets.
Yay! I’m glad I could help. I don’t understand why it is so hard to find a cute bedskirt that isn’t crazy expensive. Good luck!
THANK YOU!!! I can’t/don’t want to sew. And haven’t been able to find the skirt I really wanted. I’m doing this today
Yay! I hope it turned out great!
I just received my bed skirt pins yesterday and I’m beyond excited to finally have a bed skirt that matches my bedding (I NEVER use my top sheet) and I don’t sew, so I have saved this link for three months while awaiting for all my bedding and accessories to arrive! It’s the best tutorial I’ve found! Thank you for providing such detailed instructions and great pictures! I’ve spent a small fortune on bed skirts that were the wrong color, style, too thin, inaccurate length, etc., so this is the PERFECT option! I cannot thank you enough!
Yes! It is so nice to not be limited to the bed skirts available in stores! They never seem to have what I want. I hope you enjoy your DIY bed skirt.
I have now done this in my master bedroom and guest bedroom and everyone wants to know where I get my bed skirts from. Thank you so much Carrie! I have beautiful bedding and no more wasted flat sheets!
I am so happy to hear that! It really is such a great solution.
I use my top sheets, but I also have a hard time finding bedskirts to match my bedding. They don’t sell them in sets like they used to. I bought an extra set of sheets with plans to make bedskirt and valances to match my quilt. I have a queen bed, I have cats who get under the bed (think HAIR), and I’m not getting any younger. So I need something I don’t have to wrestle with to get off and put in the laundry. I’m loving the idea of wrap around bedskirts, but I’m disappointed so far in the fit and the colors available. Planning to make my own and looking for how-to videos. Nothing yet. :-( Your skirt looks great. If I was working with twin size, this would be a great tutorial for me. Love the no-sew idea!
Thanks Kristy! It really is way too hard to find a good bedskirt – seems like a major hole in the market. I know it may be trendy for some not to have one but I love storing stuff under our beds so they are a must!
I was looking for a lavendar colored queen bed skirt with and 18″ drop and couldn’t one. Anywhere. I am so glad you shared this idea. We don’t use flat sheets either. Thanks for sharing!
I am so glad it was helpful!
Totally just used your tutorial to do a queen bedskirt! Looks really good for $6 worth of twisty pins!
Yay, so glad it helped!
Whaaat!!! Can’t believe that I have lived this long and not seen or heard about those twisty pins!! The directions are so clear and awesome! Thanks a bunch!! Even my lazy ass can handle this!
Glad I could help! Those pins really are awesome.
What a great idea. Does this work if you need it to look nice on three sides? Any special tricks if it doesn’t fit right on the “other” side?
Many thanks
Yes, this also works if you need it to look nice on all three sides. I have done the same thing in our bedroom with our queen bed and it works well. The only problem would be if your bed is pretty high off the floor, the sheet may not hang down far enough on all three sides.
How easy is it to slide low profile storage containers under the bed? We have lots and need to access often.
It’s still very easy! The bed skirt isn’t too tight and can be lifted easily!
I know I’m years late to this discussion…. First, I just want to THANK YOU for your BRILLIANT idea!!! Your website was referenced on a Martha Stewart article about cute box spring cover ideas.
I know your post references making DIY bed skirts, which I love…. I just am wondering – regarding Martha Stewart’s piece on using this (your) bed skirt idea & alternating it to be a fitted spring box cover…. – Would these push pins work with pinning the flat sheet to the bottom of a box spring!? The bottom of my box spring seems to just be a VERY thin fabric that covers the wooden frame!?! I’m looking for a cute box spring cover to go under my bed skirt….. While it will be hardly visible, it is visible near the top corners of the bed. AND it really annoys me when I’m making the bed, I see my ugly box spring cover EVERY DAY…. I know, I am a nut….
I just want something cute!! & I really DISLIKE the BORING, SOLID color options for box spring covers that I’ve seen on the internet….
Maybe I should be asking Martha Stewart?!?
I think this would definitely work as a box spring cover as well. You could try the upholstery pins on the underneath but you could also just use fabric glue if you are okay with it being pretty permanent. Or you could use upholstery tacks (or really any small nails) and hammer them into the wood frame of the box spring through the fabric.
Any suggestions if one is trying to make a bed skirt for a metal bedframe (no box spring)? Thx!
Hmm, you might could use velcro. You could get the velcro that is sticky on the back and stick one side to the metal bed frame and the other side to the fabric. I can’t say for sure how it would work, but it is definitely worth a try. You could also use no-sew hem tape to ‘sew’ the corners of the bedskirt into shape so that it drapes over bedframe and stays in place.