Tutorial: Pillow Bed from XL Twin Sheet

If you've spent much time on Pinterest, you've probably seen some variation of the pillow bed.  My cousin's wife asked me if I'd make one for her son, so I did some investigating.  Some of the pins suggest sewing pillowcases together; another goes to a tutorial that no longer exists.  I based mine on this tutorial, but she did a lot of eyeballing, and I am a diehard measurer, so here's my version with measurements. 

Materials
XL twin sheet (mine was 66x96")
Ruler
Fabric marker
Coordinating thread
Pins
Five standard pillows

Lay your sheet out right side up and fold one of the long sides over 15" and pin.

Fold the other side over 22", making a finished width of 28". Double-check that this is a snug fit for your pillows.  The ones we had varied in length by a few inches.  This comfortably fit our longest ones, but was a bit loose for the shorter pillows.  Pin.

Move your cat out of the way.

Sew along one of the short ends.  I serged mine, but you could also sew just inside the existing hem (on the far side of the above picture) if you don't have a serger or cut it off, stitch and then zigzag the seam allowance.

Measure 85" from the seam you just sewed.  Mark, sew, and finish as you did the other end.

Turn right side out!  I didn't do this on the first attempt, because I was rushing to finish before E. woke up from her nap and then had to do a whole lot of seam ripping. Push out corners.

Smooth it out so it's as even and wrinkle-free as possible.  Mark lines every 17" and sew, backstitching at both side edges.

The blue line doesn't show up well, but it's there.

Insert your pillows and test it out!