I love bed skirts, too, but had two beds that they wouldn't work with. So I removed the center part that usually covers the mattress and applied 3/4 inch elastic all the way around the top, making sure the elastic was a couple of inches shorter than the girth of the bed where I wanted the bed skirt to hang. Works just great! I'll have to post a pic in the mext day or so.
Great idea to use for binding, too!