One of the nicest things about bedsheets is that they offer plenty of airflow, which is great because car seats can get extremely hot. Best of all, they’re fairly easy to turn into seat covers. If you have an extra fitted sheet, then you might be able to tuck it into your car right now without having to do any extra work on it.
Assuming that the sheet is bigger than your seat, you can simply tuck the extra fabric beneath the chair, and you should be good to go. Special soft linens, such as luxury bamboo sheets, are especially good for this purpose since they’re so much more comfortable than the upholstery you currently have. Getting a few fitted sheets in this way should be enough to cover all of the bucket seats in your car. If you don’t mind grabbing some sewing tools, then you could also cut them to fit.
Making Sheets Into Covers
Start by making a pattern for your new car seat covers by taking a piece of scrap fabric or a plastic sheet and laying it over the seat portion of your driver’s chair. Be sure that there’s enough extra material to cover the bottom as well as the left and right sides. Spread it out flat and use a marker to draw over any of the seams that you currently have in the upholstery. Once you have everything marked out, make lines for the headrest section as well.
Use a pair of scissors to cut along the lines and get rid of any excess material. You’ll be able to lay your new template out on top of a bedsheet. Sew the edges together by taking advantage of all the extra seam allowance you should have by this point. Each of the side stitches has to be tight enough to hold up to you getting in and out of your car, so finishing them with a classic zig-zag pattern is a good idea. Add some elastic, and you should find that these fit as well as any other commercially available covers. Your sewn seat covers should probably fit better since you custom-made them to fit your car.
A Word About Safety
Crafty people who might not be that comfortable working with all those tools won’t want to try a project like that. You can simply use a fitted bassinet sheet for the front seats as long as you make certain that it doesn’t block the gas or brake pedals. A single large full or queen-sized sheet might very well cover the entire back bench without any modifications. Once again, though, you’ll want to check that it doesn’t come into contact with the floor so you don’t have to worry about anyone tripping when they get in or out of your vehicle.
As people become more concerned about how much they consume and their carbon footprint, drivers may turn away from traditional accessories. Using an old sheet like this is a great way to recycle. Good quality luxury fibers don’t have any unsafe materials in them either, so it might even be a better option than a traditional seat cover.
