{"id":3108,"date":"2024-01-20T10:15:56","date_gmt":"2024-01-20T02:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/2024\/01\/20\/is-it-worth-it-luxury-starter-sheets-from-sferras-alma-line\/"},"modified":"2024-01-20T10:15:56","modified_gmt":"2024-01-20T02:15:56","slug":"is-it-worth-it-luxury-starter-sheets-from-sferras-alma-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/fr\/is-it-worth-it-luxury-starter-sheets-from-sferras-alma-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Is It Worth It? Luxury Starter Sheets from Sferra\u2019s Alma Line"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Over the four years I\u2019ve lived in my apartment, I\u2019ve steadily\u2014slowly\u2014swapped my lesser-quality essentials for better, more lasting versions. Glassware, under-bed storage, even my plastic clothes hangers: They all got upgrades. Somehow, though, it took me years to invest in quality bedding\u2014I\u2019m not sure why, given how much attention I pay to my bed and how I savor the simple ritual of making it each day.<\/p>\n

Still, a year ago I was still living with the $19.99 sheets I\u2019d bought as a placeholder when I moved in. They drove me crazy: They were too soft, and hung limply where I wanted crisp corners. Hoping to upgrade, I tried again and invested in what I thought<\/em> would be next-level sheets. I bought a pair of sheets for about $100, excitedly unwrapped them, and slept in them for a month, only to start to notice a distressing yellowish stain start to emerge on my side of the bed; in other places, they turned waxy and opaque. Washing them each week seemed to only make it worse. Thinking I might\u2019ve gotten a lemon, I bought another pair, only to have the same thing happen. (Time to put laundry bluing to the test, perhaps.)<\/p>\n

So when I heard that luxury sheet company Sferra had a new, more affordable bedding line, I was cautiously optimistic. It sounded promising: Alma was designed to be more affordable than the company\u2019s other offerings (Justine reported in on Sferra\u2019s Giza 45 Percale Collection, which can run up to $750; see Is It Worth It? The Lowdown on Luxe Sheets by Sferra), but unlike new disruptor companies, it has Sferra\u2019s nearly 130 years in the fine linens market behind it. Among the things that make Sferra experts on bedding, they say: correcting the myth of Egyptian cotton (a label they say is misleading, since pure Egyptian cotton is now harder to find), sourcing the best raw materials, working with fine mills in Italy, and spinning longer cotton fibers for a smoother, softer weave.<\/p>\n

Curious, I ordered the Memoria Sheet Set (from $299), Memoria Duvet Cover Set (from $299), and Origami Coverlet (from $329), all in Snow. My question: Was it worth ponying up an extra $200 to get beyond the disruptor market? Could I tell the difference? Read on.<\/p>\n

Photography by Mel Walbridge for Remodelista.<\/p>\n


Above: My bed made simply, with the sheet set and duvet cover set. The bedding really scored points when I put it on the bed. It\u2019s easy to make crisp corners: The sheets do the work for me. All I have to do is smooth the pillows and fold back the sheet and the bed looks neat and inviting.,<\/p>\n

First Impressions<\/h2>\n

When I first looked at the collection online, I was hesitant: The various lines in the Alma collection come in shades of Rose, Taupe, and Celestial (and the Alumbra line comes in floral patterns) that weren\u2019t my style. Sferra told me that Alma is geared toward millennials, but this millennial was pleased that they also offered Snow, a pure white\u2013or what the Sferra representative I spoke with referred to as a \u201ccandlelight white.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bedding arrived with none of the trendy packaging that my disruptor sheets had. I immediately unzipped a corner of the bag and felt the material: I like sheets that are pretty crisp (my sister laments that the sheets I like feel like rolling around on a tarp), and these seemed crisp without feeling starched. Perhaps this is what Sferra meant by a \u201ctextural, relaxed percale.\u201d<\/p>\n


Above: The term \u201cluxury sheets\u201d makes me think of silky textures and frilly detailing. I like the simplicity of this bedding: well-made but unadorned, and fitting for my pared-back bedroom. <\/p>\n

Quality<\/h2>\n

My first impression held when I put the sheets on my bed: They were smooth and tightly woven. Sferra had told me that it\u2019s the length of the cotton fiber, not the thread count, that determines softness and quality; perhaps that\u2019s what made the difference. While the pillowcases and shams were quick to wrinkle after sleeping on them, the duvet and sheets stayed smooth. My former sheets would get long, deep creases in the bottom sheet after one night; the Memoria sheets don\u2019t seem to.<\/p>\n

I like the way the bedding gives my Manhattan apartment the feel of a summer cottage, ready for warm-weather sleeping. And the sheets pass my test: They make a pleasing crinkling sound when I fold back the covers to get in.<\/p>\n


Above: The subtle texture of the white-on-white layers.,<\/p>\n

Detailing<\/h2>\n

Those looking for super luxe sheets should know that this bedding doesn\u2019t have the same level of exquisite detailing that Justine discovered on her next-level set (I spied a small blue thread caught inside one of the borders, and the corners aren\u2019t mitered). But the stitching is of a much higher quality than the disruptor sheets I had, which felt like they\u2019d been sewn in haste, and I love the neat, un-frilly borders on the shams.<\/p>\n


Above: The material stays fairly unwrinkled, and is easily smoothed with a sweep of the hand. <\/p>\n

Unexpected Pluses<\/h2>\n

What some might see as a downside ended up working well for me: The Memoria line comes only in queen and king sizes, and I (like many apartment dwellers) have a full-size bed. I ordered the queen set. The fitted sheet requires extra tucking around the mattress (elastic all the way around helps), but the corners lie flat and smooth, and it means I don\u2019t need to break a sweat trying to stretch the corners to fit onto the mattress. I also leave the generous sides of the flat sheet untucked to hide the extra storage under my bed. Bonus: No fighting over the sheets.<\/p>\n


Above: The sheets stand up to sleep as well as hours in bed spent writing\u2014and reading. <\/p>\n

With my last two sets of sheets, I had a particular vengeance for the crease that formed in the top border of the flat sheet. It wouldn\u2019t lie flat, no matter how hard I tried. Even steaming it proved fruitless after a night or two. But the Memoria sheets stood the test: Even on the last day before I washed them, after a week\u2019s worth of wear, the top border lay flat and looked freshly ironed.<\/p>\n

Another thoughtful detail: Instead of long, loose tags sewn into one end of the pillow sham, there is a neat little label sewn onto the inside pocket, so that the tag is out of sight on the finished pillow.<\/p>\n

,

Above: The bed in the morning.
\n

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Above: Subtle textures: the cotton\/linen blend of the Origami Coverlet and, at right, buttons and a neat hem on the duvet cover (which I plan on using without an insert in the summer months). <\/p>\n

Washing<\/h2>\n

I gave my sheets a wash one week in, following the care instructions from the website. The guidelines: a warm gentle wash, followed by a gentle tumble in the dryer. When I took the sheets out of the washing machine they were just as white as when I unwrapped them (no distressing yellow stains in sight). Although I ignored the advice to take the sheets out of the dryer \u201cwhile still damp\u201d (I wouldn\u2019t have had enough room in my apartment to let them air-dry completely) and to steam iron them on a \u201ccotton\u201d setting, the sheets were still crisp and mostly wrinkle-free. Most importantly to my slightly compulsive bed-making tendencies, all of the hems and top border stayed smooth and uncreased.<\/p>\n


Above: A closer look at the simple but thoughtful detailing. <\/p>\n

Price<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve come to think of the Alma collection as the equivalent of swapping out Ikea for the next level: a step up from the intro. It\u2019s not quite the level of sophistication of Sferra\u2019s super-luxe collections, but it\u2019s the best-quality bedding I\u2019ve ever owned, and so far has proved to be far better quality than the one disruptor company I\u2019ve tried in the past (let alone my $19.99 set). I paid $100 for my disruptor sheets, no small amount for a young person on a budget, but they quickly turned yellow\u2014not worth the money I\u2019d spent. For those looking to invest in something that will last (and don\u2019t mind spending a little extra for it), the difference seems a small price to pay for a higher quality product that will wear better.<\/p>\n


Above: Ready to re-make the bed. <\/p>\n

Verdict<\/h2>\n

Two weeks and a couple of washes in, the bedding is still crisp and looks as neat on the third and fourth day after a wash as it did when I first made the bed. Best of all, because of the well-made details and simple textures, my bed looks neat and freshly made just by smoothing back and folding the covers.<\/p>\n

Above: Definitely worth it. <\/p>\n

    \n
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    Over the four years I\u2019ve lived in my apartment, I\u2019ve steadily\u2014slowly\u2014swapped my lesser-quality essentials for better, more lasting versions. Glassware, under-bed storage, even my plastic clothes hangers: They all got upgrades. Somehow, though, it took me years to invest in quality bedding\u2014I\u2019m not sure why, given how much attention I pay to my bed and how […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interior-design"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}