|
Measuring
your bed for custom sheets is probably the most critical
of measurements for bedding products. A fitted
bottom sheet must fit a mattress in a certain way.
The corners must be at the corners of the mattress (not
off the side, or somewhere else along the edge), and
the elastic around the bottom must be tucked slightly
under the mattress itself. It takes a very
carefully arranged set of numbers to bring that about,
and you are the only one who can provide it for us.
|
The first step in getting a custom sheet that
fits, is to measure the length and width of your
mattress. There is no legal requirement
for mattress manufacturers to conform to "standard"
sizes in making their beds. It could
be a mistake to assume they stuck to standard
sizes on your bed.
|
 
|
|
Next is the tricky part.
The
depth shouldn't be measured from cord-to-cord.
As you can see from this picture, the bottom-most
cord is above the box spring, and the top cord
is below the upper loft of the mattress.
As tempting as it may be to use the cord as
a neat measuring point, you'll end up with sheets
that just don't fit.
Instead,
place the end of the tape measure on the bottom
of the box spring, as shown here. Then
place your hand on the top of the mattress and
measure up to it. As you can see here,
the depth of this mattress is 14".
Remember
to round off your depth to the nearest inch.
Also,
bear in mind that the sheets you order will
actually be one inch deeper than the mattress
measurement you give us. This is to provide
enough sheet to tuck under the depth, not just
fit to the bottom edge of your mattress.
|
While these measurements will certainly be
used to make the fitted sheet fit properly, they
are also carried over to the top sheet.
 |
The width of our top sheets can be found by
adding the width of the mattress, twice
the depth, and another ten inches.
(IE: A 78x80x13 mattress gets a top sheet
that is 78+13+13+10 inches wide, or 114")
|
|
The length of our top sheets follows a similar
formula, incorporating the length of the
mattress, the depth, and a further 8 inches.
(IE: A 78x80x12 mattress gets a sheet
that is 80+13+8 inches long, or 101")
|
Of
course, if these dimensions aren't to your liking,
you are more than welcome to request a specific
set of top sheet finished dimensions.
Keep in mind that you should calculate about
2% shrinkage into your custom finished size
if it's in 100% cotton (including flannel).
|
|
© 2000-2008