Sheet Mending Day

I know I have posted before about spending a little more money on "investment purchases". The theory being that certain items will last longer, and you will get more bang for your buck if you buy a better quality product. Sheets are one thing I will spend a little more money on. Usually, I can get four or five years worth of wear out of a set of 400 thread count sheets. I have had great luck buying my sheets at Ross Dress For Less (it is comparable to T.J. Maxx). I bought my last set of sheets for my King size bed about a year ago at Ross ( I think I spent $40.00 for a 400 thread count king sheet set and two extra sets of pillowcases).

Well, it appears there may be a hole in my theory! Two medium size holes to be exact! When I hung my sheet up on the clothes line, last week, to take advantage to the hot summer day I discovered this lovely hole in the fitted sheet!

Upon further inspection I discovered the second worn spot directly across from the first hole. Boo Hiss!
I wish I could blame the holes on Dear Hubby toenails, but it appears (due to placement of the holes) my toenails may also be to blame!

A new fitted sheet is not in the budget right now, so I had to figure out a way to mend the holes and prolong the life of the sheet until I can find an appropriate replacement (either at the thrift store or on a super fabulous clearance sale). Luckily, I had saved the pillow case for the last set of king size sheets. I cut  the end off the pillowcase (don't worry I hemmed the pillowcase, and it is now on Child #3's standard size pillow) to use for my patches.

I measured the areas to be patched. Then I cut two patches two inches wider and two inches longer than the worn areas.

I pinned the patches on the wrong side of the sheet (the side that will touch the mattress) over the worn areas.

Next, I sewed a zig zag stitch around the edges of the patches to hold them in place. I also did this so that the patches will lay flat (we do have to sleep on them).

I cut the patches with pinking shears, so that the patches won't fray.

After the patches were securely in place, flip the sheet over so that the right side is facing up (the side of the sheet that you lay on). I zig zag stitched back and forth over the worn spots (I zig zagged over a spot and then used the reverse button on my machine to go backwards. Make sure to turn the fabric slightly after each row of stitching, so you sew over all the worn area.).

This reminds me of darning a sock. Essentially, when you darn a sock you are filling in a hole or worn spot by weaving the darning thread around and over the worn out area. That is what I was doing, filling in the worn area (and hole) in the sheet with thread.
 

It may not be pretty to look at, but the mended area lays flat and it was quite comfortable to sleep on. 

I am also happy to report that my mending job held up well in the washing machine this week.  Hopefully, I will able to get a lot more wear out of the sheet before it's time to retire it (or recycle it).