Bottom sheets

[Falcon 269]

Hi everyone.
This is Mike's better half on here now (Lynn) and I hope you'll be gentle with me if I'm asking what has already been asked before. I can see a lot of threads regarding bedding, but so far I've not found what I'm looking for.
We are going the German route on our fixed island bed. That is to say that we will have a single quilt each, meaning that we can choose our duvet weight and also quickly decamp to the overhead bed if required.
What I'm not sure about is whether to get a tailor made fitted bottom sheet and if so, where is the best place to buy them. The sites I've seen so far seem a bit pricey.
What do others with island beds use?
We spent a good amount at Ikea yesterday in readiness for delivery of our van on the 1st May! We'll be doing a lot of 'wait and see if we need it', but there are some things you just know you can't do without. For instance I'm not sure if we need a topper for our mattress or just a protector.
Any advice on can't live with outs would be great.

 

[Dawn B]

I don't bother with a bottom sheet, just have 2 duvets, one thicker than the other, and put whichever one is appropriate on the bottom and cover up with the other. Simples !

 

[Viennese]

Oh what a good idea - you are such a wise woman Dawn! :thumb:

Catherine

 

[Falcon 269]

Thank you for your reply, but doesn't that make for more washing and drying? Duvet covers surely take more drying that a sheet? Also, doesn't it all get wrinkled underneath you?

 

[johnp10]

I don't bother with a bottom sheet, just have 2 duvets, one thicker than the other, and put whichever one is appropriate on the bottom and cover up with the other. Simples !

Smart arse!

Shiiiit!
Was that rule 1?

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[maz]

If you have an island bed, surely there is no real difficulty in tucking a flat sheet securely around the mattress? You do after all have easy access to 3 sides of the bed - same as with one in a house.

 

[Falcon 269]

Yes, I'm fairly good at hospital corners, and I did think I do that around the rounded corners at the bottom. Just wanted to know what other islanders use.

 

[Emmit]

Greetings,

We've got single beds and the Chief Fairy wasn't happy with the fit of either flat sheets or the ready made fitted sheets, primarily because of the rounded corners and the non standard size.

What we did (actually she did the sewing and I did the lugging in and out of the 'van) was to take the mattress out of the 'van, put it on the dining room table upside down and fit the not very fitted, fitted sheets.
SWMBO then sewed in some darts, gathering the excess material until the sheet was quite snug around the mattress. Not so much that it was tight as a drum but enough so that it could be removed for washing.

Hope this helps.

 

[Armytwowheels]

We don't have an island bed but our bottom sheet problem is similar. Nothing fits our drop down hymer bed and I have now given up trying. I use standard fitted sheets and take up any excess baggyness with elastic bands, so you end up with little sheet pom-poms around the bottom of the sheet, usually 3 or 4, these tuck under the mattress out of sight.

 

[Mousy]

I've bought sheeting from a material shop before, cut to fit, hem and run elastic around the corners, jobs a good un.

Would be a good project for bills fix it meet?

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[Mike B]

I don't bother with a bottom sheet, just have 2 duvets, [HI]one thicker[/HI] than the other, and put whichever one is appropriate on the bottom and cover up with the other. Simples !

Typical woman, I told her to get one thinner than the other one, does the opposite to what I said.

 

[Fireman Sam]

I find Cushelle quite comfortable.

 

[Dawn B]

Thank you for your reply, but doesn't that make for [HI]more washing and drying[/HI]? Duvet covers surely take more drying that a sheet? Also, doesn't it all get wrinkled underneath you?

No not really, cos you get to flip it over and use the other side

 

[cliffanger]

When we had an island bed in our caravan, I used a normal double sheet and tucked it in and then shaped, cut and stitched a duvet and cover in the shape of the bed. otherwise you have a lot of duvet over the end of the bed and it tends to pull itself off during the night!

Not difficult to do, just put the duvet on the bed, felt tip the shape of the bed on the overlap bit, cut and stitch it around. When you've done that get the cover, put the new shape duvet on top of it, cut around the cover and stitch that too. I know all sewing enthusiasts will be screaming at their screen now, but I am no seamstress, and it worked for me!

You can buy the fitted ones but I think they are quite pricey.

We have a drop down bed in the Hymer now, so I will be using ArmyTwoWheels tip - thanks Sandra!

Also, at home and in the van, we use a top sheet as well, doesn't affect the effectiveness of the duvet and is much less washing than a duvet cover! Is that too much information though....

 

[DeuceBG]

Having a PVC, storage space is a big consideration so several quilts isn't a viable option.
We use a Mattress Topper on the bed and sleep in bags.
When not in use the bags live in small "Stuff Sacs" and take little or no room at all :thumb:

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[Minxy]

Having used normal cotton and flannelette sheets (normal and fitted) we found them all a pain in the bum as they are never the right size for the bottom sheet and you can be forever tucking them back in, a consideration if you move your bed base up/down as they easily come untucked!

We now use a normal flannelette double sheet on the top and a terry towelling type double fitted sheet on the bottom which works very well as the material is stretchy so it is a nice tight fit and as a benefit it helps keep our memory foam mattress topper in place. :thumb:

http://www.tonystextiles.co.uk/category/bedding/sheets/terry-towelling#page=1

 

[Reallyretired]

When we first got this mh we bought an expensive fitted bottom sheet. We now just use a normal double fitted sheet and that works fine while the elastic is tight.

 

[Madwife]

While we don't have an island bed, ours is a fixed raised bed over the garage, I think the best thing is terry towling fitted sheet. I have one on the matress and then we have our Duvalay matress topper on top of that with a fitted sheet on it.

I bought king size fitted sheets as although the bed is only a double it is longer than the standard so the king size fits better. I got the terry towling ones from Damart as they had a buy one get one free offer and I could not find them in any regular shop.

Kath

 

[Falcon 269]

... works fine while the elastic is tight.

Like me grundies, then ...

I dunno, I leave my laptop unattended this morning and come back to find the Soup Dragon has hijacked my login to start a thread on bottom sheets. Think I need to cough up another tenner so she can have her own forum ID ... stuff like this will wreck my street cred in a heartbeat!

PS. Thanks for all the replies. Anything involving sewing is unlikely to happen (I know her well ...) but plenty of good ideas for us to take on board.

 

[Mike B]

Like me grundies, then ...

Think I need to cough up another tenner so she can have her own forum ID ... stuff like this will wreck my street cred in a heartbeat!

Go for it, I did, have you seen the rubbish my wife posts, fortunately the unbiased menfolk of this forum don't blame me for it.

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[Stewart J]

When we bought our first van we went the sheet and duvet route but gave up on it after 6 months or so. Bought a couple of good quality wide sleeping bags (not the so called mummy type) Swimbo then made inners using a double sheet folded in half and sewn along the bottom. She sewed a couple of ties onto the sheet and 2 more in the bottom of the sleeping bag. This stops the sheet moving is is very effective.

 

[spitfire]

Only bottom sheets we have sed for the last 10 years are jersey fitted sheet . Available from Amazon . Fit perfectly as stretchy and easily washed and dried . Duvet also with cover if same stuff . Job done

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

God thank god I'm not old , single duvets ,sleeping bags!oh:
We have an end lounge, we use a memory foam topper and a king size duvet.
if it all went wrong and we only had a tea towel I'd snuggle in close and hold tight( I'm built for speed not pleasure )
Bear in mind blubber is a good insulator.





Vlad the brave!