Kathy, I just grit my teeth and iron. LOL! But if you will use fabric softner in the wash it helps and take them out of the dryer before they're completely dry. They will be a bit wrinkled but hey, they're going to be slept on and I dare anybody to come into my bedroom and tell me how wrinkled my pillowcases are. Use really fluffy pillows? :-)

Kay

I agree with Kay on all counts. Fabric softener, dry on medium but don't overdry, and use them :). I make pillowcases for my son, and that's what works for us.

Cheryl

We'd have to find fabric for sheets or a poly/cotton blend to resolve the wrinkle problem. Whenever(???) I get my quilt made for my bed, I think I'm going to buy really nice high thread-count pillowcases and put a trim or red/blue work design on the borders and call 'em shams. Or good quality linen would work as well. We don't expect linen to be smooth.

I found some mattlesse once and made some nice shams (made just like pillowcases) trimmed with some hand crocheted lace that I had saved. They look nice and remain on the "extra" pillows on my bed - not the pillow I sleep on.

Teresa

I just bought a new set of sheets and after I washed them they looked like they'd been wadded up and stuffed in a trash bag or something! But my time is too valuable to spend it ironing sheets, so we use them wrinkled!

Donna

Well then, I guess wrinkled it is!LOL

I remember when I was growing up, mama had us iron the pillowcases, as well as dad's handkerchiefs. I thought that was a total waste of time, and I still do.LOL

Seems like I saw perma pressed muslin once, that would work for the bottoms of the pillowcases, but my cotton that I use for the trim to match the quilts would be all wrinkled anyway, so I may as well just use the cotton all over and let there be wrinkles.LOL

Wrinkled sheets & pillowcases. Hmmm... The only thing I care about is if the hem of the sheet is all mashed. But then again...I don't care enough to iron! As long as a big wrinkle isn't under my face when I sleep, I'm good.

I would suggest not completely bone drying them. Take them out of the dryer & then fold them nice, hand pressing any wild scrunchies out.

Like Teresa said...you'll have to find a cotton/poly blend to avoid the wrinkles. Wrinkles are a fact of life with cotton. I have some nice bamboo/rayon sheets that I bought at Target a while back & I LOVE them. They wrinkle a little, but they are SO soft.

Save the ironing for when you have company & want the pillowcases to look nice. :)

I sure would never iron sheets and pillowcases, not even for guests! lol

I just use mine wrinkled too. I don't know what the difference is, but I wear scrubs & the fabrics look the same as the ones we quilt with, even Hoffman fabrics etc..& the ones I buy don't wrinkle & the ones I make do.
Maybe they treat them with something?

Biwako...I would NEVER iron a sheet when a nice beautiful quilt can cover it up! My goodness...why did our moms & grandmas do that??? Can't imagine that they were bored. LOL

My DH did his own ironing when he was in the military. No complaints from me! And now the way he irons is to stick his stuff in the dryer for 10 minutes before he puts it on in the AM. :) Just wish he would fold the stuff he takes out of the dryer!

I have used my very large curling iron to iron the crumpled up button down shirts front(while I'm wearing them!) just so I don't "show" anything. Don't care if anything else is wrinkled. (Figure it blends well with the wrinkling skin.) LOL

Easystitches...I wonder if the scrubs are made with a touch of poly? Or like you said treated with something. Did you check the label? Cotton slacks that say wrinkle resistant must be treated with something. Makes me wonder what! Would be nice to know "what".

Ironing? I have to decide whether or not I want to replace my ironing board. I guess that will depend on whether or not I will sew any clothes for myself. Pressing is totally different.

There is nothing quite so elegant as freshly pressed linens!…..pure luxury!

How nice to have a new comment on this thread after 16 years! The thought occurs that polyester or a cotton/polyester combination probably stays smoother, but I still prefer cotton--preferably a cotton that doesn't soften and sort of get very slightly fuzzy (I don't know how to express this, but the kind I don't like is what I have in one set of sheets and pillowcases that I bought, and I have never liked them. It makes me feel that right away they look unlaundered or something. Quilting fabrics generally do not end up feeling that way, even when washed and not ironed.

Welcome, HU-9-digits! Seeing some of the old names from the days when I used to do a lot of quilting and took part in some delightful swaps and even a contest or two makes me feel very nostalgic. Msmeow and Glassquilt, where are you now, I wonder? I will never forget a photo Glass posted about a lovely sun-filled room where she did the quilting part of her quilts, and her Shakespeare in the park (I think that's the name) quilt that was so beautiful and varied, even though every fabric in it was a solid.

I am very old now, so if I ought to remember some others posting here, please forgive me. My memory is not what it once was. I still have a big stash, but am not tackling any big quilting projects anymore. I used to make fairly large quilts as presents for friends; now it is only small things. I do still have a stack-n-whack whose hexagonal pieces (and more than enough) are all ready to be put together, and half of them also already incorporated in what will be the top. I hope I won't end up leaving it for someone else to finish, because it is tricky. Haven't decided how to treat the edges, yet, either.

Biwako, I am still here! And still quilting. Looking forward to retirement in 6 months or so.

It’s nice to hear from you!

Donna

I wasn't here long ago, as I started quilting right before I retired. I think I figured out the sheet thing, though.

We used to buy either percale or muslin sheets. The percale had a nice smooth and crisp texture. The muslin were cheaper, but were not as smooth and crisp. Now, sheets are sold by the thread count, but thread count doesn't tell you if it has that smooth texture.

I saw a guy selling percale sheets on the TV. I looked up percale on the internet and it said the thread it's made from was smooth. I assume that means that it is long staple cotton (I think that's the right term). It means the fibers are longer, thus they would be smoother, I think.

At least, it made sense to me.

bkay