How to Make an Inexpensive Custom Sized Mattress Cover

As my Stealth Van Dwelling is getting closer to being finished I started getting concerned about how the final touches should look. My homemade mattress is comfortable enough, but if the bed isn't made all the time it looks pretty tacky. I needed to come up with some sort of cover to give the mattress that finished upholstered look for times when the bed is doing double duty as a sofa.

Sofa fabric is another issue. I've done enough time sleeping, or should I say trying to sleep, on a futon or folding sofa that has course material covering it that finding something soft and cozy seemed important. The foam and carpet padding mattress, that I constructed from a layer of ½" carpet padding on both sides of a soft foam interior core, is flexible to a point. I wanted to make my mattress cover snug fitting so when on display it would look neat and smooth with no wrinkles. Unlike the mattress covers available commercially.

Off to Walmart I went, in their fabric department I found numerous color choices of a nice material that is commonly used in the making of sweat pants and tops. Stretchy but yet soft, I could easily see myself curled up and comfortable with a simple throw or comforter pulled over me. For more then a quick nap sheets and pillow case would come out, but just to lay down for a short rest this material would be great.

I purchase 6 yards at $2 a yard, total of $12 which I hoped was enough to do 2 mattresses. Each mattress is 30" wide and 72" long. The material came in a width of 60" but the material is very stretchy so my plan was to sew it up like a tube, slip the mattress into it and sew up the ends.

After sewing the tube with a double row of stitches for added strength, I sewed one end of the tube shut. This gave a neat appearance for which ever end of the mattress was more visible in the van. I then gathered up the tube of material as you would do with a pair of panty hose and starting at one end of the mattress worked it over the whole of the mattress. Don't ask he how I know about putting on panty hose, but I bet most guys are familiar with the procedure too.

Once the mattress was encased I trimmed the length of the tube and hand stitched the remaining end shut. By tucking the cut edge of the material in and sewing the folded seam the resulting finished seam looks almost as good as the one sewn by machine.

Now I have a nicely finished cushion for my sofa, and a soft comfortable mattress for when I use it as a bed. The green material I chose coordinates nicely with the bed linens giving the interior of my van dwelling that high end look I was hoping to achieve.

Another option for making that final seam would be to use Velcro. That way the mattress cover would be easily removable to be washed. I chose not to do that as with the snug fit I had hoped to achieve machine washing and drying may shrink the material and cause it to no longer fit the mattress.

Whether you're building a van, or just wanting to dress up old seat cushions, making a fresh new cover is pretty easy and not expensive to do.