Make Your Own Mattress Covers

Mattress covers play quite an important role. A mattress takes a fair amount of wear and tear and are very easy to soil. Mattress covers protect the mattress from everyday use. They also act as dust-catchers so it's particularly important to use mattress covers as a form of protection. Instead of forking over big bucks for a new mattress cover, consider making your own by following the steps below.

Step 1 - Calculate Fabric

Begin by measuring the length, width, and depth of your mattress. Purchase enough material to cover the mattress and allow an additional three inches all the way around for your seams. It is easiest to purchase just two pieces of fabric because these will be wide enough to cover half the depth from each side of your mattress. Both pieces should be large enough to completely cover the length and width of one side of the mattress.

To save time, ask the assistant in the fabric shop to cut the length of your material to the exact size. Once you have brought your fabric home, it is wise to wash the material to allow for shrinking before the covers are made. Failure to do so can weaken your sewing if the covers aren't washed until a later date.

Step 2 - Prepare the Material

Place each sheet of fabric on a clean floor. The side facing up will become the inside of your mattress cover. You now need to mark out your seam lines. Allow for two inches around the perimeter of each piece of fabric. If you're a little nervous about mistakes, allow for three inches instead.

Place the inner sides of your fabric sheets together and pin the seams of the two short sides. Leave one of the long sides open but pin the remaining side.

Step 3 - Construct your Covers

Place the sheets on your sewing machine and, removing pins as you go, run the machine down the three pinned edges. Try to keep the stitches as straight as possible because irregular or uneven sewing will cause your mattress cover to fit poorly. Take your time because any mistakes can require a new mattress padding.

Once the first three sides are sewn, you need to deal with the opening side of your cover. Using your pins once more, fold down the edges of the opening and place a suitable length of Velcro onto the folded material on each side. Pin the edges and Velcro into place. Run your sewing machine along the edges to simultaneously create a neat seam and two firm velcro attachments that will face each other once the cover is fitted.

Step 4 - Make your Bed

You now need to turn your finished cover inside out. Pull the cover on to the mattress and close the Velcro strips to keep it in place. Lay the mattress back on to your bed with Velcro side down facing into the wall wherever possible to promote a tidier appearance.