I did it y'all. I made a duvet cover for our bed. Was it easy? Well, it should have been. As you know, I am prone to mishaps.
When I decided to redo our master bedroom, my original plan did not include a new duvet. We had already been using a duvet, but I had started to like white matelasse and so I was looking for that instead. Then I somehow stumbled across
this post by Darlene at
Fieldstone Hill Design. That post changed my life. And not just because I had stumbled across an amazing blog written by an amazing person and designer, though that is certainly true.
It changed my life because I found out that YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE A TOP SHEET WITH A DUVET! Yes, that's me yelling at you in excitement! How had I gone my whole life not knowing that little detail? I'm pretty sure my mouth fell open and stayed that way for 10 minutes after I finished reading that post.
You see, I am a bed nazi. I cannot stand bunchy sheets. I will get up in the middle of the night and walk around the bed to fix them. This happens quite frequently in our house since Hubby can't stand to have the sheets tucked in at all. So I am fixing bunchy sheets at midnight and having to tuck the entire sheet back in come morning.
With a duvet, no bunchy sheets and no tucking in anything!
And so I abandoned my search for matelasse, and decided to make my own duvet cover. We already had a king-size down comforter, which I like for our queen bed because I like covers and this way we both have enough on each side. I always hated when I had to share a bed with someone because as soon as you both got in bed, you realized that you each had one inch worth of blanket to spare. And then you freeze the rest of the night and fight people for covers in their sleep.
People are vicious when they fight for covers in their sleep.
So I just decided to stick with our old comforter. If you want to use a duvet without a top sheet, you need to get a cover made with sheet-type material. Something wonderfully soft that will hold up to as many washings as your sheets would, since you will be washing your duvet cover more than a regular blanket. Think of it as a pillowcase for your comforter.
To make my duvet cover, I used two of
these king-size flat sheets from Target. They are super soft and, since they are sheets, should stand up to being washed frequently. And I bought the fitted sheet and pillowcases to have a complete set. I didn't want to be wedged in between two different types of thread-count or two different shades of white.
I followed
this simple tutorial using sheets and with a button closure. Unfortunately, I have no pictures to show my process. Most of the work was done at night and involved my mom coming over to help me wrestle with the sewing machine. I don't usually think to pull out my camera when I'm conquering sewing machines.
To cut the sheets to size, I simply laid them out on the floor, ironed them, laid my blanket over them, and then started cutting until I had about 1 inch of extra material on each side. Yes, it was crooked, but the king-size material was too overwhelming for me to measure every three inches. Like in the tutorial, I left the finished top edge to create the opening, where the buttons will go.
Also, if you're using sheets, trim off at least one of the finished seams on each side of the sheets. And make sure they're on opposite sides when you go to pin them together. Sewing machines hate going over two thick layers of hem. Your machine will jam. Just sayin'...
I also added a ribbon in each of the corners opposite the opening to help hold the comforter in place{ours had loops for just such a purpose}.
After many mutterings under my breath, several seams ripped out, and winning the button hole fight with the sewing machine, I got the buttons sewn on and stuffed my new duvet cover with the blanket.
I love it! And making the bed is nothing. Just straighten it out in the morning and you're good to go!
Warm fluffiness, no bunchy sheets, and super easy bed making? Who's joining the duvet revolution with me?