OT..sewing help needed

t shirt cotton maybe. it stretches but maybe too much. beats me. mine only have the straps not the whole fitted sides on them. j.

"Joanna" wrote ... Matteress pads the stretchy stuff that sits on the side of your bed and tucks underneath usually with an elastic. Well mine if falling a part literally. What would you use to replace it with. Cuz they stuff they used in the beginning you will never find and I want something that will hold up to washing and such. The top of it is in good shape and it was an expensive pad. I'm so tired of spending good money and get cheap products. I've always had issues with these things, The stretchy stuff that looks like thin cheesecloth always rips. Thanx for any help Joanna

You are just so right. Our expensive mattress pads also have some cheap-looking not even woven fabric but sort of a sleazy interfacing 'around the sides of the mattress' border. Whatever it is, it doesn't really seem to have much, if any, give or stretch. Probably you could replace it with just ordinary woven cotton - unless, of course, you have one of those really deep pillow-top mattresses. Polly

"J*" t shirt cotton maybe.

I think Tshirt fabric also like "J" suggested. They make sheets out of it. You could buy a sheet and have enough fabric to make it. The nice thing about that is that you could custom size it to your mattress depth with enough to go under it several inches so it wouldn't pull up. Sew elastic around the bottom edges or make a casing and use a drawstring to keep it snug. Donna

I'd expand on Donna's idea and just stitch the pad part to a bottom/contour sheet after cutting off the original flimsy sides. Then you'd have the exact size and a sturdy 'frame' to hold the mattress pad top in place on your mattress.

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

I think Tshirt fabric also like "J" suggested. They make sheets out of it. You could buy a sheet and have enough fabric to make it. The nice thing about that is that you could custom size it to your mattress depth with enough to go under it several inches so it wouldn't pull up. Sew elastic around the bottom edges or make a casing and use a drawstring to keep it snug. Donna

I used a fitted sheet and simply stitched the mattress pad top to the sheet. To be sure the placement of pad top to sheet was exactly right, I put the sheet onto the mattress, spread the pad top out and smoothed it, and then pinned it in place before removing the sheet. Since I already owned the sheet and the pad, the cost was nil.

My mother used to buy mattress pads with nothing to hold them in place at all, and then added strips of 1" elastic at each corner in a U- shape, and those always worked well.

Oh, I like the sheet idea best of all! Zero cost if you have an extra bottom fitted sheet laying around. Excellent idea! OOO...you guys are so smart! Donna

this would of gone down really well if/when we get a whole mess of us using that new fangled google wave one day. perfect project to tackle. tho worked here good too. just me thunk'n outloud yet again. j.

"dealer83" wrote ... Oh, I like the sheet idea best of all! Zero cost if you have an extra bottom fitted sheet laying around. Excellent idea! OOO...you guys are so smart! Donna

It could even be a very worn old sheet. The sides don't usually wear out. Just cut off the old sides from the pad and stitch the pad to the top of the fitted sheet. The sheet itself could be trimmed away, especially if it has any holes in it. Or just leave it there. I think it would be easier to stitch the pad to the sheet with the sheet intact.

Or just cut off the sides of the pad and add 4 elastic bands to the corners to hold it in place on the mattress.

Julia > I'd expand on Donna's idea and just stitch the pad part to a

If you don't feel like sewing the mattress pad to a fitted sheet, as others have suggested, you can use sheet garters. They come in different styles and are made to anchor fitted sheets (when the sheet doesn't quite fit the mattress). They work just fine with mattress pads, too.

Nann

I have made these!! I buy elastic & those suspenders gadgets & sew them on each end of the elastic. When DH rolls over in bed the fitted sheet came off. Not now!

Nana

Nann