Simple Mattress Cover

When getting ready for a newborn, I quickly found myself dealing with a surprising number of different mattress sizes: stroller, travel bed, crib... Rather than buying a separate cover for every size, I found that making one myself is actually very simple.

This is the easiest method I've found for making a custom-sized mattress cover. It requires very little fabric and only basic sewing skills.

1. Sewing machine
2. Fabric
3. Elastic band
4. Safety pin
5. General sewing supplies: scissors, thread, measuring tape, pins...
6. Iron

Start by measuring the length, width and thickness of your mattress.

Mine was approximately 50 × 80 cm, and about 2.5 cm thick.

I wanted the cover to wrap around the sides of the mattress by about 3–5 cm for a good grip. I also needed some extra fabric for the elastic casing (about 2.5 cm).

For this reason, I decided to add 10 cm to each side. This meant I needed a piece of fabric measuring 100 × 70 cm.

Fold the fabric in half lengthwise and then in half widthwise.

You should now have a rectangle of 50 × 35 cm in front of you, with two folded edges and two edges where the fabric is open.

Now cut out a 10 × 10 cm square from the corner where there are no folds (see photo).

Because the fabric is folded, you are cutting through all four layers at once. When you unfold the fabric, you will have four identical corners cut out.

Bring the edges of each cut-out corner together, with the right sides of the fabric facing each other, and pin them in place (see photo).

On one of the corners, leave a small opening in the seam. This will be the opening through which you will later insert the elastic band.

Sew all four corner seams, remembering to leave the small opening in one of them.

I didn't finish the raw edges of the fabric before sewing them together. The fabric I used doesn't fray very much, and since this cover will probably only be used for about six months, I decided to keep things simple. If you want a more professional or durable finish, you can finish the raw edges with a zigzag stitch before sewing the corners together.

Ironing is the A and O of sewing (is what my sewing teacher used to say). Don't skip this step!

First, press the newly sewn corner seams flat.

Then prepare the elastic casing around the entire edge of the cover. Fold the fabric in by approximately 0.5 cm, and then fold it over again by about 1.5 cm to create the casing (see photo).

Pin it in place and iron the fold flat. This makes sewing the casing much easier and gives you a cleaner finish.

Sew all the way around the mattress cover, close to the inner edge of the folded fabric.

Make sure you do not sew over the opening you left for the elastic. You need this opening to remain accessible so you can insert the elastic band.

Attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic and slowly feed it through the casing.

I wasn't sure exactly how much elastic I would need, so I didn't cut it beforehand. I simply fed it all the way around and adjusted the tension once I had the cover on the mattress.

For my mattress, I ended up using approximately 1.2 m of elastic.

Once I was happy with the fit, I simply knotted the two ends together and trimmed off the excess. If you want a slightly more polished finish, you can sew the ends of the elastic together instead.

That's it! You now have a simple, custom-sized mattress cover that fits your mattress perfectly.