Bed Cap Bed Sack Bed Skirt/Dust Ruffle Bedspread Blind Hem Comforter Drop Duvet Cover Envelope Closure Four Pocket Construction Internal Pleat Pattern Match Percale Perimeter Cording Pillow Sham Pillow Tuck   Platform Attached Reverse Pillow Sham Six Pocket Construction Thread Count Split Corners Velcro Attached Welt

Bed Cap A bed cap is most often employed in bunk beds and daybeds. Essentially, it is a quilted bed cover that is fitted to all four corners of the bed, and covers the top mattress completely. It is normally composed of a designer fabric, quilted with a 7 oz. bonded polyester fill and backed with 100% cotton.

Bed Sack Bed sack is a style of mattress pad, in which the same material that is used on the top of the bed, is also used on the sides of the bed, and elasticized. While a fitted style mattress pad would have plain broadcloth skirting holding it on to the mattress, a bed sack style mattress pad would have quilted or felt siding.

Bed Skirt/Dust Ruffle The bed skirt suffers from many colloquial synonyms that cause no end of confusion to well-meaning linen vendors. Sometimes called a dust ruffle, a valance, or even a "sham", the bed skirt is the essential partner of the comforter. It covers the box spring, and hides the dark space under your bed, as well as providing an accent to the rest of your bedding ensemble.

Bedspread In the case of conventional beds (without a waterbed frame), a bedspread covers the entire bed: from the pillows, to the floor. In the case of waterbeds, the bedspread covers the pillows, just as a conventional bedspread, but is designed to be tucked into the sides of the waterbed frame. Sometimes called a "quilt" or "comforter", both terms are inaccurate. Unlike a comforter, a bedspread is not reversible and is much larger. The use of the term "quilt" varies widely from neighborhood to neighborhood, and can mean just about anything that grandma used to make. Try to avoid the term unless you elaborate on what it means to you.

Blind Hem A blind hem is the type of hem used on the edges of bedspreads and comforters. As its name implies, it is designed to be used in places that will not be seen. The top fabric is folded behind the bedspread and sewn onto the backing. Blind hems are extremely strong, and account for much of the longevity of a quality bedspread.

Comforter A comforter is a bed covering that is quilted, and reversible.  Traditionally, it drops 15" over the edge of the bed at the foot and sides, and covers the top of the bed completely.  Our comforters are filled with 11 oz bonded polyester fill.  A comforter is also known as a "Duvet" among those who wish to display their knowledge of bed linens, or those who have spent any time in Europe, where the duvet is the prevalent bed covering..

Drop Aside from its use as a verb, the "drop" can refer to two things in the linen industry.  First, it can mean the distance from the top of the bed to the floor, where bedspreads are concerned.  A bedspread's finished width is equal to the bed's width, plus twice the drop.  It's length is equal to the bed's length, plus the drop, plus nineteen inches for a pillow tuck.   When discussing bed skirts, the drop refers to the distance from the top of box spring (or foundation), to the floor.

Duvet Cover A Duvet cover is, quite simply, a cover that goes over your comforter.  Some people who don't know any better, will simply call this item a "duvet" instead of a "duvet cover."  It's best to be sure of exactly what they want when they use the term, as it is misused constantly.  The duvet cover is basically a hollow comforter that opens at one end and has a Velcro closure.  A comforter is placed inside of it, and removed whenever laundering is required.  It is useful to achieve a loose, unquilted and "frumpy" look to the bed, or to protect a non-washable comforter.  The reverse is also true, when a customer wants to display a non-washable designer fabric during the day, but actually sleep under a washable comforter at night, the duvet cover is the perfect solution.  A duvet cover also helps protect against the sometimes spiny protrusions that work themselves through a down comforter from time to time.

Envelope Closure An envelope closure is simply an open slit on the back of a pillow sham, or some pillow protectors.  It allows the pillow to be held securely within, and makes it easy to insert or remove the pillow when needed.  The envelope closure is the simplest and most cost effective closure to have on pillow shams, and is immune to the wear and tear that other closing methods suffer over time.

Four Pocket Construction Four-pocket construction is a term that refers to the most common way to design waterbed sheets. Four triangular pockets hold the bottom sheet onto the Vinyl mattress at the corners, and since the top sheet cannot be tucked in very easily, or securely, it is sewn to the bottom sheet at the center of the foot of the bed to prevent it from being pulled toward the head of the bed and uncovering the sleepers' feet.

Internal Pleat In bed skirts, an internal pleat can be used to provide an accent color or pattern "behind" the main color or pattern. The internal pleat is actually made from a different fabric, and integrated into the bed skirt. Though this process is time consuming, and thus, more costly, it provides another dimension to the bed ensemble and can be used to great effect by a skilled decorator.

Pattern Match Pattern Matching is an essential process in bedding, as most bed covers and accessories are far more than 54" wide (the standard width in which most decorator fabric is available). It is therefore necessary to make bed covers from several parallel "panels" of fabric and match their patterns to make them appear to be one continuous pattern. The size of a pattern is measured by its "repeat." Patterns with large repeats require more yardage to manufacture bedding than fabrics with small repeats, simply because some fabric is lost when performing the pattern match.

Percale The type of fabric normally used in sheets. This can be a 50/50 blend, 100% cotton, or a blend of other fabrics in any ratio. The word "percale" refers to the weave of the fabric, not its content.

Perimeter Cording This term can actually be a bit misleading. Perimeter cording does not go on the perimeter of the bedspread or comforter, but rather, on the perimeter of the bed-top, which leaves quite a bit of fabric outside the cording to hang over the sides of the bed.

Pillow Sham The pillow sham is a decorative cover for your pillows, from which your bed pillows emerge at the end of the day. The pillow sham is part of the traditional three-piece bed set which includes the comforter, shams, and a bed skirt. The European Sham looks similar to a regular pillow sham, but the pillow is sewn into the European Sham and cannot be removed.

Pillow Tuck The pillow tuck of a bedspread is simply additional length at the head, allowing the pillows to be tucked under it and the bedspread to be tucked slightly under them, at the front. A normal pillow tuck is nineteen inches, which is more than sufficient.

Platform Attached The platform attached bed skirt is made with a rectangle of white 250-thread count cotton fabric, slightly smaller than the mattress size, around which the visible part of the bed skirt hangs on three sides. This version of the bed skirt tends to have a more appealing appearance than the Velcro attached variety, just as a Windsor knot looks better than a clip-on tie. The disadvantage is the same as the cravat, in that it is more difficult to install and remove, especially if the mattress is extremely heavy.

Reverse Pillow Sham This is a 30" section of a bedspread at the head of the bed, which is designed to drape over the pillows. It is reversed (bottom-up) to work as the picture indicates.

Six Pocket Construction In waterbed sheet sets, the bottom sheet is not elasticized, but rather, four triangular "pockets" hold each corner of the Vinyl waterbed mattress and prevent the sheets from coming loose. Because the top sheet cannot be effectively tucked under the mattress at the foot as it is on a conventional bed, one common solution is to put two additional pockets at the foot of the top sheet, so that it, too, holds the Vinyl mattress and does not slide up to leave your feet uncovered. Thus, we have six pockets: four on the bottom, and two on the top sheet. This type of sheet set is easier to launder and maintain, as the two sheets are separate and can be easily handled.

Thread Count The Thread Count of a fabric is the number of threads that can be found in one square inch of a fabric.

Split Corners The best way to get around bedposts is to split corners, either on the bedspread, or the bed skirt.

Velcro Attached A Velcro attached bed skirt comes as a long strip, rather than a square. The bed skirt attaches to the side of the foundation or waterbed frame with a strip of Velcro "loop" that is sewn along its top edge. The "hook" component of the Velcro is provided separately in small strips, for the consumer to attach to the bed foundation in any number of ways, including hot glue, staples, tacks, or any other method preferred. This variation of the bed skirt is easier to install and remove for cleaning, and is the only option when moving the mattress to insert a platform is impossible.

Welt Welt is just another word for cording, either on a comforter, a sham, a decorator pillow, or what have you. The term "self-welt" means that the cording is made from the same fabric as the main body of the item. London Bridge Linens offers three sizes of cording: quarter-inch, half-inch, and one-inch.