Camper Van Bed Mattress | 9 Simple Steps To Make A Comfortable DIY Bed Mattress

One of the most important things for us when making our van was to make sure we would have a comfortable night of sleep. Since we planned to be living in our van long-term, we wanted to ensure that our camper van bed mattress was as comfortable as a real bed which is found in a normal home.

The cushions would be used as a mattress for sleeping and also cushions for our sofa during the day so we also needed to make sure the material was a good balance of thickness and comfort.

There are a few different ways that people make their camper van bed mattress. At first we discovered a budget option which is commonly seen on YouTube. Many people purchase a foam mattress online and then cut the mattress into their desired sizes.

We were concerned about this option since the foam mattresses we found online in Japan looked difficult to cut by ourselves. We were worried that we would purchase the mattress then make a mistake when cutting it and would be a waste of money.

After doing some further research online, we discovered a company called softpren in Japan which makes made-to-measure pieces of foam. This seemed like a great option for us since we needed 5 pieces of custom foam in order to make our sofa and bed. Click here to access the softpren website.

In this blog post, I will explain step-by-step how we made our sofa cushions using custom foam from softpren along with how much everything cost.

1. Measuring

After making the wooden base for your bed, the first thing you need to do is measure the area that will require cushions. We measured exactly to the edges of the bed base. At the back door area of the van, the edges are curved so we measured that area as a rectangle and then cut the corners of the foam with scissors when it arrived.

It’s really important to take your measurements many times to make sure your measurements are definitely correct.

The corners of the back door of the van are rounded, but I measured them straight and cut off the extra foam when it arrived.

2. Order The Foam

We decided on 5cm of foam thickness and this was made up of 2 different types of foam. We ordered 2.5cm of a harder grey foam for the bottom (click here to see the foam) and then 2.5cm of softer yellow foam (click here to see the foam) for the top.

The ordering process on the softpren website was very simple and it arrived well-packaged in a big box 4 days after we placed the order.

3. Make Sketches Of The Camper Van Bed Mattress

We made sketches of each individual cushion and estimated how much fabric we would need to purchase to make all the cushions. Four of our cushions needed 6 pieces of fabric: a piece for the top, a piece for the bottom and 4 sides.

The cushion near the back door required 8 pieces of fabric due to the curve. We left 2cm extra fabric on all sides for sewing, but our cushion covers ended up being quite baggy. If you are looking for the cushions to fit exactly, we would recommend leaving only 1cm of extra fabric on each side for sewing.

4. Purchase Fabric

Since you will be sitting on these cushions and using them on a daily basis, it is important to buy durable and thick fabric. It is also advisable not to buy a fabric which is a very light colour like beige since this will easily stain if you accidentally spill something.

Many fabric shops have fabric on sale so if you are on a budget you should check out this area first. You can usually purchase 1m of fabric for around ¥500 in the sale area.

We estimated we needed 7m of fabric to make all our cushions but we purchased 8m just in case we made any mistakes when cutting. The fabric we purchased cost ¥600 per meter.

5. Purchase Wadding (Optional)

Wadding is a material available from the fabric shop which is usually made from wool or polyester and used to soften sharp edges on cushions. It costs around ¥500 per meter and we decided to use it to hold the two pieces of foam together.

We were worried that the pieces of foam would move around inside the cushion cover and annoy us. We wrapped wadding around the 2 pieces of foam and secured it by using strong spray adhesive glue.

6. Purchase Extra Items You Will Need

For making the camper van bed mattress, you will also need sewing pins and zips. We purchased 200 sewing pins from the Daiso, the ¥100 store.

It’s recommended to buy high quality zips so they don’t end up breaking. We tried to purchase zips that were close in size to the length of the cushion so we could insert the cushion easily. For example, one of our cushions is 149cm long and we used a zip which is 130cm long.

7. Prepare The Fabric

Next you need to cut the fabric according to your previous measurements. It’s best to use fabric scissors since these cut fabric smoothly compared to normal scissors.

The next step after cutting, is to fasten the pieces of fabric together from the inside using sewing pins. This will secure the pieces of fabric together and you can check that the shape is correct.

8. Sewing

The camper van bed mattress covers can be sewed by hand but it will be very time consuming. The best option is to use a sewing machine.

If you are not confident using a sewing machine, there are some sewing shops who will do the sewing for you for a fee but we found that option is quite expensive.

If you have a friend or family member who can assist you with the sewing, it would be the best option. Shota’s mum helped us with the sewing for our cushion covers.

9. Test The Cushion Covers Fit

Once your cushion covers are ready, you can insert the foam inside and check if they fit properly. The next step is to then test them in your van! We had some left over fabric so we made 3 extra cushion covers to make our van more comfortable.

What Is Our Overall Verdict?

We had no experience with making cushion covers but we were able to do it with help from Shota’s mum who did all the sewing! Being able to order customised sizes of foam made the whole process much easier and we are so happy with the result.

The foam is also so comfortable and we always sleep so well in the van. We were originally worried that 5cm thickness might not be enough but it has been perfect for us so would recommend that amount of thickness if you are thinking of making similar cushions.

During the day when we set the table up in the van, we place the extra cushions on top of each other so it’s also very comfortable for use as a sofa.