Turning King Sized Pillowcases into Standard Size

Like I mentioned in my headboard post I picked up some new sheet sets over Thanksgiving weekend, well actually Black Friday sales. David loves to check out the sales, and we were in need of some new sheets. We have a king sized bed but we use 3 standard sized pillows instead of 2 king size. Well, if you buy king sized sheets they give you 2 king pillowcases. This obviously doesn't work for us.

I was planning on just buying some standard cases, but was dreading it. The cheapest I could find 2 standard pillowcases was $10 and I needed 9 (3 per set, 3 sets). I just didn't want to do that. Then one day I was looking at the king cases and thought I could convert them to standard.

I had some cases from my previous sets that were never used and 6 new cases. So, I had enough for what I needed! Yeah!

Ok, here's how I turned my king pillowcases into standard cases.

I first measured the standard case to see how long it was, 29". And then I measured the cuff, 4". After looking at the way some cases were cuffed I decided the best way to convert it was to cut the cuff off and make my own.

I measured off 33" from the end of the case (29 +4=33) and cut the cuff off.

Then I turned the case inside out and folded a cuff down about 4 1/2 to 3/4". I wasn't exact, just ballpark. Then I ironed the top to create a crease that would be the top of the case.

Then I folded the raw edge up about 1/4", again not exact. And I ironed it too.

Then turn the case right side out and smooth the folds into place and pin it. You don't have to pin it but I don't mind pinning if it makes things stay in place while I sew, because I like to sew fast if I can.

I wanted the cuff to have a little personality to them so I picked out a pretty turquoise thread and found a stitch on my machine that I thought would look good.

I like to start sewing at the edge because it hides the start and stop parts a little more. I lined up the inside edge of the cuff with the opening on my foot as much as I could. Since my cases are white I could see it and used that as my line to keep it mostly straight as I sewed. In the picture I'm pointing to the edge which you can't see in the picture but could in real life. This was a very easy project but it did take a while because I was working on 9.

I really love how they turned out! They fit perfectly into our room and I love that I was able to use what I had and didn't have to buy new cases or supplies! Woo-hoo!

This bedroom is slowly coming together in a way I'm very happy with. I have a couple more projects still till it's going to be called "done". 

So have you ever turned king pillowcases into standard? Would you like to?

Comments make me Happy!