Have you ever wanted to make your own DIY duvet cover? It is much easier than you think. All you need is some fabric and a sewing machine (sewing skills not required). If you have never sewn before you can still make your own duvet cover – it is that easy.
DIY duvet cover
The first things you’ll need to do are;
- Decide what bed you want to make your duvet for
- Measure its dimensions.
As a point of reference, the following are dimensions for common bed sizes;
- TWIN: Mattress 39″ x 75″ — Duvet cover 80″ x 110″
- FULL/DOUBLE: Mattress 54″ x 75″ — Duvet cover 96″ x 110″
- QUEEN: Mattress 60″ x 80″ — Duvet cover 102″ x 116″
- KING: Mattress 78″ x 80″ — Duvet cover 120″ x 120″
- CALIFORNIA KING: Mattress 72″ x 84″ — Duvet cover 114″ x 120″
- DAY BED: Mattress 39″ x 75″ — Duvet cover 84″ x 117″
There are countless items you can use to make your duvet cover. You can always go to a fabric store and pick out the perfect fabric to match your room decor.
However, this is a great DIY project for upcycling fabric in your house. If you are making a duvet for a child or teenager, repurpose old t-shirts from sports teams or favorite characters (kids have so many whimsical and fun t-shirts the possibilities are endless). You can cut the front of the t-shirt out and arrange those square on the duvet.
Another popular item to use is old dress shirts. A fun duvet made out of old flannel shirts is a perfect duvet cover for the winter. A popular choice is also other sheets. Maybe you have some sets where you ripped one of the sheets or the elastic went on the bottom sheet. Cut the sheets up to make a fun pattern.
Materials you’ll need…
- Scissors (that can easily cut fabric)
- A sewing machine (borrow one if you do not have one)
- Thread
- Pins
- Fabric
- The top sheet for the size bed you are making the duvet for
How to assemble your DIY duvet cover:
- Purchase a set of discounted sheets in any color and use the top sheet as the back side of your duvet cover. Better yet, repurpose sheets you’re no longer using.
- Lay the sheet on the ground and use this as your template for the top
- Arrange your fabric face up on top of the sheet. At the bottom of the sheet, make sure your top fabric is 6 inches longer than the bottom sheet.
- Once you have arranged your fabric the way your like it, flip the pieces over and pin the pieces together on all the edges.
- Thread your sewing machine and run your pieces through using a regular line stitch (which looks like this: – – – – )
- The bottom edge should be folded over by 1/2 inch and sewn to give a clean edge. This will be the pocket part that you will slide your blanket into.
- Once you have sewn all your individual top pieces together, pin your top and bottom pieces together with the top sides facing in. Make sure that edges match up on the three sides evenly. When you get to the uneven bottom, fold the long part over to overlap the bottom sheet end by 1 inch. Pin the sides so that they are sewn in a straight line. When you sew the pieces together on the sewing machine you will use the same stitch as before and you will sew only three sides NOT the bottom side.
- Pull the cover right side through and place the blanket in the cover. Tip to putting your blanket in the cover: pinch one corner of the duvet while placing the blanket in. Repeat with the other three corners.
What kind of DIY duvet cover are you going to make? If you’d like more ideas, Tiny SIDEKICK has a great DIY duvet cover tutorial as well.
Feature image credit: savageultralight / Shutterstock