Single Bedsspreads

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 84, Issue 4, 15 April 1952, Page 339

Single Bedsspreads

ALL cotton and linen materials and some rayons wash well, and the heavier is the cotton material the less it creases. Less creasing is likely with material that has a novelty weave. Materials suitable for bedspreads are obtainable in plain colours, floral, striped, checked, or conventional patterns, plain weaves, or material with a woven pattern. Choice depends on the type of room or furnishings and the limit t of expenditure. Furnishing materials are 48 or 54in. wide, though some 36in. dress fabrics may be quite suitable.

Styles can be varied and the pattern of the material may run lengthwise or crosswise, as in the illustration above, Basically • a bedspread requires a straight piece of material to cover the area of the top of the mattress and a skirt to cover the sides. The side skirts may be gathered, pleated, or hung straight with an inverted pleat at each corner at the foot of the bed for fitting and appearance. The “throw-over” style, which requires no fitting but is draped over the made-up bed, consists of straight lengths of material sewn together. A bed with a foot board may need only enough material to be tucked

in under .the foot of the mattress and not a longer or floor-length end skirt. Detailed on the opposite page are dimensions and sewing directions for various sizes of bedspreads and materials. The lengthwise grain of the material runs along the length of the bed unless otherwise stated. The pleated or gathered style requires the measured length plus half as much again for fullness in the side and end skirts. For the corner-pleat style sufficient material has been allowed for each half of the inverted pleat to be 4|in. deep, so that when the bedspread is turned inside out the corner pleat appears to be a box pleat measuring 9m. Piping made from contrasting material or from the waste material may be inserted in the seams around the top cover. Piping may be made by covering piping cord or thick string with strips of the material. For the covering of piping cord and sewing of seams with piping inserted a piping or cording foot must be used on the sewing machine. Strips of material used to cover piping cord are usually on the bias of the material, but for a bedspread the straight of the material may be used, as the seams are long and straight and there are only two corners to turn with the piping. Though the sewing technique is more difficult, a more attractive finish is gained by cutting a piece as wide as the depth of the mattress from the top of the side skirt and rejoining it with piped seams, as in the centre example in the heading illustration. The lower illustration on this page shows how patterns for two bedspreads can be worked together so that, with the double length of the material to be cut from, long strips the depth of the mattress for the tops of the side skirts may be cut to eliminate some of the joins which occur in cutting from the shorter length of material bought for only one bedspread. If two bedspreads are being cut from the same material, the pattern can be laid out so that the long narrow strips of material for the tops of the side skirts can be cut in one piece.; Photographs by Sparrow. Industrial Pictures.