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Ok, you guys know what a bedskirt or dust ruffle is, right? It’s that decorative thing you put on top of your boxspring, under your mattress, so the boxspring doesn’t show.
I have an issue. I bought an expensive ($90) custom-made bedskirt from an ebay seller, with a no return policy. It’s a queen size ruffle style. (instead of tailored, or flat, the fabric is bunched or ruffled). When I got it, two of the sides had weird seams in them. Like, they didn’t have enough fabric to run the whole length of the side, so they sewed another piece on to finish the length. On one side it’s near the middle, but on the other it’s like 5 inches from the end seam. I’ve told the seller I want a refund (I will return the item of course). They told me I obviously don’t know how bedskirts are made, that **all ruffled bedskirts** have these weird seams in them, and they are blowing off my issue.So, MY QUESTION IS:
Have YOU ever bought a bedskirt that has a joining seam anywhere *within* the length of the sides? (I’m not including homemade bedskirts here, just manufactured ones. The seller sent me a how-to homemade dust ruffle tutorial from eHow.com, to explain their “acceptable industry standards”.)Also, this skirt is satin. Would it make any difference at all to the “hang” of the fabric (for all you seamsters out there) whether you use the fabric lengthwise or widthwise? They are claiming that since bolts come in 45″ or 54″ widths, they are forced to sew the widths together to create the long sides. I contend that they should be able to cut the fabric down the middle lengthwise, leaving two 22″ strips, and pull as much length from a 10 yard or more bolt as you please, thus creating seamless drops. I’ve already measured, the longest sides take 5 yards of fabric each. (Plus I need to know for myself because that is how I plan to make the bedskirt I want, as it seems purchasing one is *impossible* 🙄 )
Anybody willing to waste their time posting thoughts? Thanks!
ps – please pardon the tone of this post. I’m a bit ticked off 😡
I’ve never bought a ruffled bedskirt for a queen-size bed, but I can say that the non-ruffled ones that I have bought did not have “weird” seams on any of the sides.
Wish I could help you on your other question, but I’m not quite that knowledgeable about sewing. I will say that what you suggest makes sense to me and from some quick Internet searchs about fabric seems plausible.
I have a queen bed, with a ruffled bedskirt and just looked it over thoroughly and the skirt has no seams whatsoever. There are seams on the part that covers the boxsprings, tho. Mine is store bought, so I’m sure the factory was able to crank out a lot of skirts from continuous yards of fabric.
I’m guessing yours has no pattern which would hide seams anyway, but if it’s a ruffled skirt, that should probably hide the seam? I’m not a seamstress but I think satin is hard to work with (slippy/slidy) so you might not want to tackle the job yourself unless you know how to sew well :/
I am not very lucky buying on eBay myself – better at selling!
I have a queen bed and I just looked my bedskirt over and no weird seams. My guess is whoever made your bedskirt screwed up and cut the fabric the wrong way – they cut the fabric width wise instead of length wise and tried to cover it up. You might try telling the seller that.
Hi – Seamstress here 🙂
Regarding Weird Seams… Yes based on what you’ve said the person who made the bedskirt probably did piece in a piece when they were making it. this is not uncommon to do in ‘domestic’ sewing projects since we don’t have access to massive bolts of fabric like facories do. However that being said, most decent seamstresses would work to have the seams line up with the corners (or the inside of a fold etc.) of the Bedskirt so they didn’t look weird or show. Now since it is a ‘ruffle’ the chances are that it will not be overly noticeable one it is on the bed and hanging, however I couldn’t guarentee it. Would it be possible for you to post a picture? I might be able to tell you more then 🙂 Or drop me a PM and we can talk 🙂Just checked the two beds here with ruffled bed skirts and neither have a seam on them. These are probably from those ‘bed in a bag’ sets.
Thank you for the replies. I’m guessing I will just have to gather as much info as I can, present it to eBay, and let eBay make a decision. The seller is demonstrably uninterested in acknowledging or fixing the weird seams. If the fabric were thinner, or the seams flattened (ironed, steamed, or stitched in), they wouldn’t show so bad. But it’s very thick satin so at each seam, the shininess (that gets darker going into the seam) and thickness (that make a little hill on each side of the seams) make the seams stand out like little vertical abysses.
I could post pictures at least so you guys can let me know if you think I’m being unreasonably picky… I guess given I spent $90 on the thing, I was assuming (and literally banking on it!) they would do a better job as pros than I could do by hand at home. Looking at what they sent me, I can do at least as well, if not better. (And I’m not a sewer. I hate sewing. I just know how to do it, a little.)
I’ve contacted three other online bedskirt stores that sell satin ruffled bedskirts that are custom made per order. So far, one says they don’t have any seams except one at each corner of the footboard, and the other says in most cases there are no seams but if there is a seam because of fabric width, they hide it in the pleats so it’s never visible from the outside. Waiting for the third to come in. Either way, these seam issues are only one problem – there are other workmanship problems too. I just want my money back 🙁
Ive had one ruffled bedskirt in the past-and I never noticed any weird seams. I could understand at the corners but not in the middle of any of the sides.
Have you asked the seller if you could return it and he/she could make you another one? Because really, if you had known it was going to be patchwork, you could have 1-done it yourself or 2-wouldnt have bought it. I also think that if you know you are going to be making bedskirts, you should buy 5-10yrds of fabric so that YES, you could cut any lenght, up to 10 yards and not worry about a seamHi Wolfenmachine,
I didn’t want to ask them to make another one because 1)the color of the whole bedskirt is too dark (darker than the swatch they sent me) and 2) there are actually a lot of other craftmanship issues in the bedskirt. At this point I’ve decided to simply make my own, and I have the fabric on order, long enough to keep the seams out!
I have asked about 3 other custom-satin-bedskirt makers. 1 of them said, no seams. 1 of them said, sometimes seams depending on the width of fabric we’re using, but we hide them in the pleats. 1 of them said, always seams and would charge an extra 30% if I specifically don’t want seams. Gah! So I’m getting mixed results on that front. But, that still doesn’t cover the fact that the hems are messy, the shade is off from the swatch, and the corners look terrible (One corner is fully split, because that’s where they started/ended the fabric of my 4 sided ruffle. The other three corners just have pie slices of fabric cut out of them to create a wedge of space, thus creating the “corner”. I don’t get why they didn’t just do a full split at each corner, and avoid the seams in the drops. Nrrrg.)
Anyway, I’m just going to go ahead with my dispute through eBay and abide by whatever eBay decides. Worst case I’ll end up where I started – out $90 with a bedskirt I wouldn’t feel good about trying to pawn off on some poor unsuspecting eBay buyer. The whole idea was, pay a professional who will do a better job than I could. At least this experience gives me confidence that I *can* actually make something just as good if not better 😛 Now I’ll just wait to see how the case comes out – wish me luck for getting my $90 back….What a pain. Have you considered opening a dispute with Paypal? Since you bought it through eBay, you could open a claim based on the item being significantly not as described.
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My art: featherdust.comI am in process of pursuing a claim through eBay, and tomorrow I can escalate it so eBay will make a final decision.
Here’s a Picasa link to pictures of the issues, if anyone’s curious:
http://picasaweb.google.com/aferra/PoorQualityBedskirt#Some of the photos wouldn’t keep their captions, don’t know why, but I tried to caption best I could (like, “the next three pictures are…”)
So, what do you all think? do I have a case? :shrug:WIN! Ebay decided in my favor and I’ll ship it back and get a full refund.
Thanks for your support, everyone. SO glad I joined here, and not just for the sake of Windstone Addiction!Jerusha wrote:WIN! Ebay decided in my favor and I’ll ship it back and get a full refund.
Thanks for your support, everyone. SO glad I joined here, and not just for the sake of Windstone Addiction!Yay!! A good outcome for once. 😀 Now I hope you can find a great bedskirt.
Jerusha wrote:WIN! Ebay decided in my favor and I’ll ship it back and get a full refund.
Thanks for your support, everyone. SO glad I joined here, and not just for the sake of Windstone Addiction!I didn’t see any of this until now, but I had looked through the pictures, and I could clearly see the sloppiness! i am so glad Ebay decided in your favor!! Yay!! That would be one swift kick in the butt for the seller who was being devious about it!! 👿
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