Posted on 8 Comments

Choosing sheets and preparing to swap

Ok, swappers, if were’ going to do this thing, we’re going to need some rules. The first thing you might want to do, if you don’t trust yourself to be able to spot a  \/intage sheet (bear with me with the silly spelling – I just disco\/ered my \/ key is on the fritz…) is read these posts by In Color Order and Sophia’s Sundries.  They are both full of tips, as well as plenty of eye candy to help you see what “look” we’re after.

Here are a few quick ideas and rules of my own:

  • No solids.
  • No novelty prints or characters.
  • Look for anything from the 70’s and earlier. As a rule, the sheets we want are on a white background. If you find beige ones, you’re probably looking at a 1980’s sheet.
  • The sheet should be 100% cotton or a 50/50 cotton/poly blend.

Once your linens are all picked out, you will need to get them ready to swap.

  • Make sure all sheets and pillowcases are freshly laundered (or from a newly-opened package).
  • Pillowcases should be swapped whole and intact – no cutting required.
  • Sheets should be cut up into pieces no smaller than 60″ by 30″. You should be able to get three pieces this size out of a twin sheet. Larger sheets will probably yield more pieces.
  • The pieces you submit should be free of fading, holes or rips – be sure to cut around any blemishes your sheets may include.

Once your sheets and pillowcases are ready to go, you’ll send them to me, and I will send back to you an assortment of different pieces.  You will get back exactly the same number and type of what you send in (for instance, if you send me 6 pillowcases, you will get back 6 different pillowcases).

If any of the remnants you send me don’t follow the rules, I will send them back to you.

If your linen closet is lacking in the funky old sheet department, try local thrift shops, garage sales, freecycle, or estate sales. If you still come up empty, you can check online (although you may not get the same great deals).  

Check the right sidebar on my blog for a graphic that shows you some promising eBay auctions, or click here for a possibly-helpful eBay search.  

Etsy is another good source.  I found this shop, but I’ll bet there are others, too.

Just be warned… I went to eBay looking for pillowcases to trade, and ended up putting them directly on my bed. You may just end up decorating your bedroom instead of swapping!

Swap signup will be open until May 31 (or until the number of swappers gets too big for me to manage).

And now I ha\/e to go figure out what is wrong with my keyboard. You’d be surprised how challenging it is to a\/oid words with the letter \/ in them!

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Posted on 8 Comments

8 thoughts on “Choosing sheets and preparing to swap

  1. […] Choosing sheets and preparing to swap […]

  2. I read your V story with amusement. Tricky problem. I presume you already know the Alt trick but just in case you haven’t or forgot and are using a PC, you can hold the Alt key and type 118 on the numeric keypad for a “v” and 86 for a “V”. Doesn’t fix the keyboard but it could make life a little easier.

    1. Yep, I’ve been doing that all day today 🙂 I just couldn’t be bothered looking it up yesterday!

  3. Any idea what the pattern on the 3rd from left in the top picture is called? My grandma made quilts out of sheets in that pattern for several of my cousins and me and I’d love to find some.

    1. I had those same sheets on my bed when I was a kid! The piece I have doesn’t have a tag on it, but I am pretty sure it was a JC Penney or Sears sheet. That was were my mom did most of her shopping for stuff like that. If I find more information, I’ll let you know!

    2. I didn’t find anything on eBay, but I found this on Etsy. Maybe the seller can tell you more? Also, try searching “vintage patchwork sheet” on google image search. There’s a lot there that’s not what you’re looking for, but there are also a few that are. I saw a brown version of the print, which reminded me that my parents had that set at the same time my sister and I had the girly pastel ones. The 70’s were such an oddly-colored decade 🙂 Hope this helps!

      1. That’s right! I think that my grandma had the brown set for her guest bed. Thanks for your help!!

        1. I just had an idea – it’s entirely possible that my grandma still has a set or pieces in her very extensive stash of craft stuff. I’ll have to check with mom and grandma.

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