The CBB :: View topic - Sides to Middle

#1: Sides to Middle Author: Kate, Location: Ireland

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 2:22 pm

Turning sheets sides to middle is one of Matey's favourite punishments... what on earth does this mean and why would anyone want it done?

#2: Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 2:51 pm

With pure (unfitted) cotton sheets, they eventually wear out in the middle where you lie, so you cut them down the middle and then sew them back together with the edges now in the middle, thus meaning that you can get lots more wear out of them. My granny used to have some like this - surprisingly enough, they weren't too uncomfortable to sleep on Another option was to turn worn out double sheets into 2 single sized sheets

#3: Author: Tiphany,

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 2:54 pm

Some of my mother's sheets have had this done to them, and it's sensible because it really does double the life of the sheet, but I can't imagine having to do all that sewing by hand! It would be a terrible punishment!

#4: Author: francesn as guest,

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 3:14 pm

my gran had a lot of sides to middle sheets - sewn by hand. i used to keep putting my foot through the middle and have to repair them - again by hand. i can testify that sides to middle by hand is a truly HORRID punishment!

#5: Author: Robin, Location: London

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 3:23 pm

the things you learn on the CBB Smile

#6: Author: Kate, Location: Ireland

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 5:48 pm

Ahh! Thanks wise people! I had visions of Matey and the girls sewing sheets into triangles. I don't know why they would want to do that, hence my confusion.

#7: Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!!

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:39 pm

Wasn't it also the case at one point that fabric wasn't made wide enough for a double sheet, so two lengths would be used, and stitched together down the middle? (I seem to remember a bit in one of the 'Little House' books where they are making sheets in this way)

#8: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:53 pm

I used to cut old sheets in half to use as cot sheets ( My daughter was sick a lot so the sheets were changed a lot) this saved a lot of money and I like recycling and reusing!!! Nikkie

#9: Author: MissPrint, Location: Edinburgh

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 12:52 am

I loved the sides to middle sheets at Grannie's. They were from the 1870s (actually dated, others may have been older), so no surprise they'd worn a bit. They were so cool and smooth. And I remember inspecting one in a fit of Chalet curiosity, and they had been sewn by hand, beautifully. I have some linen of that vintage in my linen chest, but no sheets, they really had done their duty.

#10: Author: Kathy_S, Location: midwestern US

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 5:18 am

Vikki wrote:

You're right, Vikki: It's near the beginning of The Long Winter, when we hear that sewing "made Laura feel like flying to pieces," and again when they get the sewing machine in These Happy Golden Years. It sounds as though it would make sides to middling easier, since you ripped out the old seam instead of waiting until the sheets got so thin your toe ripped a giant jaggedy hole.

#11: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 2:44 pm

Some of our sheets when I was growing up were sides-to-middle, but I always assumed they were done by sewing machine. Maybe I ought to dig them out of the cupboard and look next time I visit my parents. Liz

#12: Author: Miriam, Location: Jerusalem, Israel

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 10:01 pm

Iad wondered why this was always done. Now can any of those who have experience of these things tell me if they were sewn with a french seam (catching the edges inside, thus making a slightly thiker ridge down the middle) or a regular seam, thus requiring hemming (and tripling the work involved)?And was it always done by hand at the CS, or did they really do it on the sewing machines, and Matron just kept a few to be done by hand as punishments? Twisted Evil

#13: Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:58 am

Fairly sure that Granny's had a French seam - but it's a long time ago & I could be wrong

#14: Author: Lyanne, Location: Ipswich, England

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 12:34 am

Oh! Well, that would make sense. No wonder they hating sewing them so much. I always pictured sheeting, with selvedges at both edges, ripped down the middle and over-stitched with teeny tiny stitches to join, and hemmed at the sides. Embarassed

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