Tutorial Tuesday: Water Proof Mattress Protector

This project was born out of necessity. It was necessary for me to stop doing so much laundry. Lincoln is a bit of a super pee-er. That means, no matter how thick the diaper, cloth OR disposable, he is going to pee onto the bed a minimum of 3 times a week. Meaning, I have to wash and dry his sheets and mattress pad 3 mornings a week BEFORE morning nap. Enough. I have had enough. So, I pulled out some hideous fabric from my fabric stash and stitched up this functional sheet protector. It has been in use for about a week now. I wanted to test it out before I posted the how-to. There are a few things I'd do differently next time, but all in all, it serves its purpose. It does slide around a bit--maybe I should have made it wide enough to drape over the edges of the bed? Also, I think it would benefit from quilting so the layers don't shift about--but that would actually require quilting, which I have no idea how to do. So, there you go.

How to make a Water Proof Mattress Cover

1. Gather your fabrics. I cut squares measuring 31"x31", but will go longer next time (at least width wise....). I used what I had available in large quantity: the snowboarder print is a flannel, the celery green is PUL (a water proof fabric), and the dark olive green is fleece.

2. Pin the top layer and middle layer together. I wanted the flannel to be my top and the PUL in the middle.

3. Using a 1/4" seam allowance, stitch around all 4 sides, so that the 2 pieces are now one piece. Trim the excess off the edges.4. Now, pin your new double layer fabric to your backing fabric, right sides together. Below, the flannel is facing the fleece.

5. Untangle your son from the pedal foot. This actually occurs almost continuously while sewing and is the main reason you haven't seen a sewing tutorial for awhile on here...

6. Again, using a 1/4" seam allowance, stitch around all 4 sides, but this time leave a 12" gap on one side so you can turn the right sides out. DON'T FORGET THE GAP (unless you and your seam ripper are good friends!). Turn your fabric right sides out and stitch the gap closed.

7. Console your son, who is quite upset you took away the pedal foot, box of pins, bundle of raffia, pinking shears, and can of buttons. You never let him have any fun!

8. Besides being ready to throw in the towel at this point (see #7), I had to top stitch around the edges. I think top stitching makes any project look better, even snowboarders on purple flannel backed with olive green fleece...9. Position your new mattress cover strategically on your mattress.

10. Sleep tight knowing that you won't have to wash your sheets and mattress pad in the morning (and if the mattress protector does get wet, you can just toss it in with your other laundry for the day....or make 2!)

Let me know if you have any questions or if something is unclear!