Comforter 2B

For several years I've changed my bedroom's "look" twice a year, encasing the comforter in a different duvet cover and swapping out the artwork and accessories. Last fall when I went to put the summer cover away on I noticed it was on its last legs and would need to be replaced, and the winter one wasn't much better.

I promptly forgot about the project until April, when it was time to switch the room again. This time I added replacing the cover to my list of things to do and started looking around. I didn't want to spend a lot of money, so every time I went to a resale store I searched through the wares section.  (No luck.)  A duvet cover is essentially a very large pillowcase that covers the comforter. I figured I could use my rusty sewing skills and make my own, so I looked for flat sheets (no luck again), and investigated yard goods at the fabric store  (no luck there, either). Last month I hit the jackpot at Home Goods; I found a bagged set containing the duvet cover and two flanged pillow shams. I loved the pattern, and it only cost $25.  There was only one problem. It was a king sized set and my bed's full size.  The new bed linens WOULD be a sewing project!

I brought the set home and left it in the store bag for a few days, working out the details of the project in my mind. When I finally got up the nerve to take everything out of the package, I noticed all the pieces were edged with piping (which I haven't worked with for many years).  That was almost enough to make me return it to the store, but I put everything back in the store bag and thought about it for a few more days before I decided I could tackle this project.

The finished product.  Still looking for accessory pillows.

I started with the pillow shams, because they were smaller and easier to handle.  I had to take them completely apart, including removing the piping, so I could cut them to the correct size.  I basted the piping to the top of the sham, then sandwiched the two pieces together and used a zipper foot to sew as close as I could to the piping cord.  I did a pretty good job; there were only a few places where I had to go back and re-sew.  After the shams were turned right side out, I sewed the flange around the outside.  Done!

Time for the duvet cover. My old cover closed with a row of buttons across the top, but this new one used a zipper.  The first step was to open up the top seam and sew a new stop for the zipper, then cut off the excess.  I decided to make this cover wider than the old one (more like a queen size) so it would hang longer on the sides.  After spreading out the cover on the kitchen floor and measuring everything several times I took a deep breath and started cutting.  I removed the piping from the unused portion, then pinned it to the side of the cover, sewed it on, then closed everything up and finished by flipping the cover right side out.

If I do say so myself, the finished product looks pretty good.  A lot of the artwork still fits into this new color scheme, and I'm looking around for replacements for the stuff that doesn't.  It's almost the end of June, so I figure I have three months until the seasons change.  If I want to dress the bed with a new cover this fall, I need to get busy!