Mattress covers are typically formed of panels of quilted material. Typically, rectangular top and bottom panels are joined around their edges by a border panel strip around the edges of a spring or foam mattress interior to form the outer covering of the mattress. Handles are often added to the mattress edges to facilitate the turning or other handling of the mattress. These handles have been added to the border panels, which are usually quilted, in a manufacturing step that occurs subsequent to any quilting process, typically before the border panel is joined to the other panels to cover the mattress.
The application of tape strips by a post-quilting sewing step has been proposed for the addition of handles to mattresses. Tape strips have also been sewn to quilted mattress panels for decorative purposes or functional or structural purposes in forming mattress covers.
All such post-quilting steps involve some production time and add to production costs.