Our bed sees tons of action. Between the solid eight hours of sleep my hubby and I put in there every night, and the three littles jumping on it almost daily, it’s got a really tough job. Its bedding was starting to look rather weary and worn down. It needed a rest. And maybe even a replacement. So I decided that in return for all the support it’s provided us through the years, it was time to give it an upgrade. New bedding can really spiff up a weathered and well used bed.
A change in bedding is a simple overhaul, really. I began by searching around for a duvet cover to contain our puffy down comforter. After experiencing massive sticker shock though, I knew this was a project I could manage on my own. Plus, I’d get to choose any fabric I wanted rather than making an already-made cover work. With a 40% coupon in my hot little hand, I headed down to my local Hobby Lobby to buy my fabric, thread, some buttons, and Velcro.
The Basics
I measured my down comforter to determine how much yardage I needed to buy. The length of the king sized duvet cover would need to be about 85 inches long. So, I bought a total of four 54 inch wide by 87 inch long panels in the equivalent yardage (about 11 yards) to encompass our comforter. I grabbed the other few items I needed to complete the project, and the total cost for the supplies was under $130 with my coupon.
The French do it Best
I didn’t want this updated bedding to look homemade. To make it appear store bought, I centered one of the panels in the middle of the bed. This prevented the appearance of a seam running down the middle of the bed. And, I used French seams for this project. A French seam is a fancy term for a seam in which the raw edges are sewn in so there are no raw edges to be found. This gives the seam a clean, professional look. A French seam was also important for this project because the fabric I chose frayed easily. Since French seams contain the frayed edges, I can rest assured that no matter how busy my bed gets, there are nice, flat, non fraying seams.
After I sewed all of the panels together using those French seams, I sewed across the top of the duvet cover so I basically had a really big pillow case. It’s dimensions were 95 inches long by 110 inches wide. At the bottom of the duvet cover, I sewed a third of the way across from both corners. This left the center third of the bottom open for the down comforter.
Pro-Tip: Keep Your Comforter In Place With Ribbon Ties Inside the Duvet
Before I stuffed the down comforter into the duvet cover, I sewed a ribbon to the top two corners on the inside of the new cover. I sewed ribbons to two corners of the down comforter. When I wrestled the comforter into the cover, I tied the corners of the comforter to the inside corners of the duvet cover. The comforter is sure to stay in its place, and it fits perfectly.
The final detail for this project was to finish off the opening. If I were an awesome seamstress who was excellent at buttonholes, I would have done button holes. But I’m not that skilled. So to fake it, I sewed squares of Velcro across the hole and covered them with decorative buttons to look stylish. The new bedding for an action-packed bed makes all the difference. The finished project makes our well used bed look like new. We can ramp right back up to our, ahem, typical bed usage.
