Easy DIY Cloak From a Bedsheet

In this tutorial, I'm going to show you how to make an easy DIY cloak from a bed sheet. It requires NO SKILL, NO CUTTING and it's for when you have NO TIME LEFT. You can even re-use the bed sheet when you're done. YES, REALLY.

I didn't just need a wizard cloak for Halloween this year - I needed FIVE of them. This means they had to be fast, easy and cheap to make. Also, I didn't have a sewing machine. I imagined going to my local thrift store to pick up a bed sheet and 'tie one on' so to speak. So that's essentially what I did.

I'm still amazed at how simple this was and how great it looks - not to mention the options. The most amazing thing about this is that since there is no actual cutting of fabric (just two hidden snips to feed your cord) you can remove the stitching in minutes and put it back on your bed, as before. Though you may not want to!

For this project you will need:

1. bed sheet (double or queen)
2. measuring tape
3. straight edge
4. chalk or something to draw a line on your fabric
5. scissors (for just two little snips)
6. straight pins (just makes it all easier)
7. needle and thread OR lots of safety pins
8. 3-4 ft of macrame, paracord, shoelace or twine (to tie your cloak)
9. a bit of tape
10. pencil, skewer, crochet hook or small stick (to feed your cord)

AND

1. 1 hour of your time

OR

1. 5 minutes, if you have a sewing machine - OMG, you're already done

Go to your local linen closet (or bed) and grab a free bed sheet.

OR

Go to your local thrift store and buy a $6 bed sheet.

You'll want a flat sheet/top sheet NOT a fitted sheet. For an adult, you'll want a double or queen size. The taller the adult, the longer the length you'll need, but don't worry too much about this; the design is very forgiving. For us, color was more important. We wanted five different colors (for our five wizard elements) that all looked nice together. We didn't want whites or stripes or florals or pastels or prints of any kind. We lucked out with two queen sheets and three double sheets in a nice dark mix.

Measure your bed sheet. Our five adults ranged from 5'4" to 6'3" in height. Our sheets measured:

1. purple 81 x 97" (double)
2. green 80 x 104" (double)
3. brown 85 x 99" (double)
4. red 90 x 100" (queen)
5. blue 90 x 104" (queen)

You can see that even 'standard' sizes will vary in measurement, but they worked just fine for us. We simply matched the bed sheet to the size of the person.

Take your tape measure and measure from the back of the neck down to the ground or ankle or wherever you like (or up, like I did). There will be some forgiveness in the end, depending on how tight you tie your cloak. For three of us, this measurement was about 60". This is the only measurement you'll take.

Sadly this photo is missing, so I've drawn one for you. From the foot/bottom edge of your bed sheet, measure up - in this case, 60". I did not have much floor space so I folded my sheet lengthwise for ease of marking. Then I folded the edge over a bit (see photo) and marked on the opposite side, flipped the fabric and continued the line. If you have a yardstick or a long board to draw your line, great, but you can also just line up your marks with your floor tiles and follow the groove in the floor. Nothing in this project requires real precision, trust me.

I used chalk to mark the line because it could wash away or even rub off with my fingers when done, but you could use a pen if you're brave. This line won't actually show when you're done IF you get your length right the first time (which I didn't, on the brown one), but even if you don't, the whole thing is reversible, so no worries.

The HEAD of your sheet, where the widest hem usually is, will be the casing/channel for your cord (we are going to narrow this casing/channel in the next step). For now, at each of the top corners, pinch apart the fabric to separate the layers and make a tiny half inch snip with your scissors through ONE layer of fabric along the seam (1st photo). Yes, I said 'no cutting' BUT these two little 'snips' are needed in order to feed your cord and you will never notice them again.) Make sure to do TWO snips - one at each end of the seam (2nd photo). This is arguably the most important part of the whole process - it's what actually enables your bed sheet to transform into a cloak.

Open up your fabric with the 60" line FACE UP. Take the HEAD of your sheet and fold it down to the line - and actually, about 1 inch beyond, so you're covering the line but allowing a 1-inch casing/channel for your cord. Yes, your 'guideline' is a line you cannot actually see; just lift it up and sneak a peak as you go along, lining it up. You'll be fine.

Pin in place. Your snip holes can be face up or down, it matters not. Mine were face up. Draw a chalk line along the pins, if you like (I did), to guide your sewing. It will more or less line up with the original line underneath.

Thread your needle. If sewing by hand, double up your thread and don't make it too long (a couple feet at most), otherwise it will just tangle up on you and slow you down unnecessarily. You'll have to re-thread your needle once or twice, but it's worth it to avoid the tangles. The bonus of hand sewing is that since I'm re-threading anyway, I matched the thread to each cloak. (If I was using a machine, I would probably not re-thread the machine; I'd use black thread for all five cloaks. AND I'd already be done this project...)

Sew along your line using a long BASTING stitch, maybe 3/8 to 1/2 spacing. This is the easiest stitch in the world and it's called a basting stitch because it's TEMPORARY; it's meant to hold your fabric together while you fuss around with other stuff, then you can remove the stitch as if it were never there. This is what will allow you to take the cloak apart and return it to your bed when done (if you so choose, of course). It's okay if your fabric puckers a little as you sew along this line because this will be gathered up by your cord anyway. Your sewing skills are irrelevant.

As you can see (last photo), this step divides the body of the cloak (the single layer of fabric) from the hood section (the double layer of fabric).

Fold the cloak in half lengthwise with your cord casing wrapping around the outside (or inside, whatever, it really doesn't matter!) and iron along the top folded edge of your hood. You will be ironing four layers of fabric here.

Wait, ironing?! Won't this slow me down, you say? I have no time left! I have to get out my iron and ironing board? No, you do not, which is why there is no photo of the ironing board. This photo simply shows that you will be sewing through four layers of fabric in the next step and it's easier to have a nice flat fold to stitch along. I was making FIVE of these things, so I got out the iron. Also, by my third, I was really taking pride in my brilliant design and decided I wanted them to look nice (ie. not wrinkly).

Regardless, if you do want to iron your cloak, now's the time - while it's still a flat rectangle rather than all gathered and in it's finished form.

After ironing/lining up the top folded edge of your hood, pin in place about a half to one inch from the top edge. This just holds it in place while you sew along the folded edges (hooray for ironing).

This time you're going to sew two folded edges together so you're going to use a long WHIP stitch - the second easiest stitch in the world. This stitch will allow you to open up the sewn seam and have it lay flat-ish on your head, rather than look all bunched and 'seamy'. Alternatively, you can skip the sewing and use safety pins to secure the hood along this edge, which would definitely be 'seamy' but it's your choice!

(The whip stitch, like the basting stitch, is easy peasy to undo - again, for ease of returning the sheet to your bed.)

FYI, this step is where I made a DISCOVERY.

I decided, after running out of thread, about 13 inches from the end of the hood, that I was DONE, so I tied off, knowing that the remainder of the hood would simply hang down the back kinda pointy-like and look just fine. However, leaving a second opening at the 'tail' of the hood allowed for a second style option, which you will see very soon...

I was using macrame cord so I taped the ends to prevent unraveling.

Tie one end of your cord into a knot to keep it from slipping inside the casing. Tape the other end of your cord to one end of your pencil (or whathaveyou) and feed it through one of those tiny slits you snipped earlier (in step 5). Keep feeding and bunching your fabric as you go until your pencil is free of the casing then remove the pencil from your cord. Tie this end of your cord into a knot as well - again, to keep it from slipping inside the casing. The knots will also prevent unravelling, so you could remove the tape now. I didn't!

Congrats! Yer done.

Time to TIE ONE ON. Your hood may need to be flipped inside out (although there really isn't an inside) to work with whatever you've chosen as the outside of your cape. The whole thing is reversible, flippable, adjustable to hide any mistakes you may have made along the way.

You can now see the two styles of hood and see how the back drapes. You can choose elf/wizard-style (with some roominess for your pointy ears) OR monk/nun-style (with a nice big cowl neck). (We were going for wizard-style, but next year...who knows?)

Remember, if you want to turn your cloak back into a bed sheet when you're done, simply disassemble in reverse: pull out your cord and use scissors/knife/seam ripper to (gently) remove the two lines of stitching you did - the one along the top of the hood and the one that channeled your cord. And those two snips you made? You'll never even notice them.

Happy Halloween! Cheers!