If you can sew a straight seam, then you can create your own homemade duvet cover. What is a duvet? It’s a comforter, plain and simple. It can be filled with expensive down or basic fiberfill. A new handcrafted cover can rejuvenate an old comforter and protect a new one. A duvet cover is an especially good idea for a child’s room, where the comforter is likely to take abuse and neglect.
Fabrics suitable for making a duvet cover include cotton, denim, and microsuede. The easiest way to get fabric is to buy a couple of good quality flat sheets in the size needed. The standard size for twin comforters is 63 inches by 86 inches, and for full, 86 by 86. If you choose to buy fabric off the bolt, look for the extra wide width used for lining quilts. If the fabric you wish to use is 45 inches wide, you will have to piece it together. A seam down the center front is one possibility, but it might be more attractive to center the 45 inch piece and sew an eleven inch strip on each side for twin, or a 22 inch strip on each side for full size.
To make a duvet cover, you are basically making a pillowcase for a comforter. Measure the comforter. The top and bottom of the “pillowcase” need to be the width plus 2 inches (seam allowance) by the length plus 5 inches. This will give you extra fabric to fold over at the opening. If you are using flat sheets, use the top hems at the opening edge. With right sides together, using ¾ inch seams, sew around the sides and bottom, leaving the top open. Turn under (towards the inside, which is to the outside at this time) the edges of the top hem two inches, and turn it under again. Stitch this hem of fabric close to the edge of the first fold. Press it as needed to keep the corners neat.
Next, turn the duvet cover right side out. Decide which side you wish to consider the top. Along the top hem, mark buttonholes every 8 inches. Center these so they are symmetrically arranged. Directly underneath the buttonholes, on the inside of the lower piece’s hem, place buttons to match the buttonholes. When the buttons are sewed on, make the buttonholes. The buttons you choose can be coordinating or decorative, but they need to be fairly large, at least three-fourths of an inch across. It will take about 8 buttons for a twin duvet cover and 11 or 12 for a full size.
Here is an idea for piecing the top of a twin duvet cover. This would work well with denim or microsuede. You will need 3 ¾ yards of 45-inch wide fabric. Cut a 2-½ yard strip to run down the center of the duvet cover. Now cut the remaining 1-¼ yards of fabric into 4 equal lengthwise strips. Sew these, right sides together, into two strips to run down the sides of the main piece. Topstitch the seam twice, ¼ inch apart, with coordinating or contrasting thread. Now, right sides together, stitch these pieces on either side of the main piece. Topstitch the new seams. This would be particularly attractive using denim with gold topstitching, like jeans. Topstitch the hem at the opening as well. The reverse side of the duvet cover could be made of a coordinating sheet, perhaps in a blue gingham check.
When choosing fabric for a duvet cover, remember that while one side will be designated the top, either side can be turned up. If you choose coordinating prints or solids, a quick turn of the comforter will give the bed a whole new look. While a print with a matching solid always works well, you might consider using a print with a coordinating stripe. A toile print with a matching pillow-ticking stripe is very effective. For a child’s room, a wide array of fanciful prints is available. Take the child’s interests into consideration. If they are nature lovers, consider frogs or bugs. If they like heavy machinery, there are fabrics and sheets printed with trucks and bulldozers. Whether the child is a cowboy, princess, or ballet dancer, prints can be found that would inspire and entertain any child.
Crib size comforters can also have duvet covers. Simply measure and follow the above directions. Piecing will probably be unnecessary. You may wish to close the cover with ties instead of buttons. Use short pieces of heavy ribbon or tape and attach firmly to the top opening. A facing strip of fabric, 3 ½ inches wide, pressed under ¾ inch along each edge, should be stitched over the raw edges of the ties. On a toddler’s bed, you may wish to turn the duvet so that the opening of the cover is toward the foot of the bed. This will reduce any risk of choking of other problems that might arise from the buttons or ties.
