How to Sew Duvet Covers

A duvet is a quilted comforter that goes on your bed. A duvet cover is a decorative way to protect the duvet and to make it last longer. Think of it as a pillowcase for your quilt. You can also use a duvet cover as an inexpensive way to quickly change the décor of your bedroom with the changing seasons or with your changing mood. If you want to know how to sew duvet covers to save money and to show your sense of style, read the following instructions for a duvet cover with a zippered closure.

Choose Your Fabrics

1. Measure your duvet. You need two pieces of fabric large enough to cover the duvet, plus one inch extra on the length and width to allow for a ½-inch (1.27-centimeter) seam.
   • You want to allow ½-inch (1.27-centimeter) extra for each seam you need to make to piece the duvet cover together. Allow slightly more than that if you want a looser fit for your duvet cover or if your duvet is extra thick.
2. Pick fabrics that are soft to the touch. Look for stain- and pill-resistant materials that wash easily.
   
3. Buy different fabric to piece together to fit your duvet.
   • You can plan on making one side all the same fabric, or you can plan on piecing it together like a quilt top from a variety of fabrics. How to sew duvet covers is entirely up to you, and it’s a project that can let you express your artistic talents.
4. Allow extra fabric if you have patterns or stripes to match in the fabric.
   
5. Remember to purchase fabric for two sides of the duvet cover.
   
6. Take a shortcut if you wish by purchasing two contrasting flat sheets if they are large enough to cover the duvet.
   
7. Purchase matching thread and a long zipper.
   
8. Wash the fabric according to package directions. Dry it in the dryer. This removes any sizing and helps set the color dyes. If the fabric is going to shrink, it does it in this first wash cycle.

Cut and Piece the Fabrics

1. Lay the fabric out. Cut the pieces as needed to make the proper-sized duvet top or bottom section.
   
2. Pin the pieces together with the wrong sides facing out.
   
3. Lay the zipper next to the place you want it to go and mark the area with pins.

Sew the Seams

1. Sew the three sides without a zipper using a ½-inch (1.27-centimeter) seam.
   
2. Press the seams open.
   
3. Turn the duvet cover right side out at the zipper opening.
   
4. Stitch from the corner where you put the first zipper markers.
   
5. Backstich to secure the thread.
   
6. Skip the zipper hole and sew the other side in the same manner.
   • You should now have an opening in the side of the fabric the length of the zipper.
7. Set your sewing machine to machine baste. Sew the opening closed.
   
8. Press the seam open.
   
9. Center the zipper teeth over the machine-basted portion of the seam. Hold the zipper in place with hand basting or transparent tape.
   
10. Put the sewing machine back on its regular stitch setting. Attach the zipper foot.
    
11. Sew on the right side of the fabric close to the zipper. When you get to the end, square off and stitch across to the other side of the seam.
    
12. Repeat the process on the other side of the zipper. Square off again, cross the seam, and complete the row of stitching where you started.
    
13. Remove the machine-basting thread and the hand basting and/or transparent tape.
    
14. Open the zipper to test it.

Insert the Duvet into the Duvet Cover

1. Slip the duvet into the duvet cover.
   
2. Zip it closed.
   
3. Place the duvet and its cover on your bed and enjoy.

• You can create other closures for your duvet covers. Other popular closures include buttons, loop tape and snaps.

• Tape measure
• Fabric
• Zipper
• Thread
• Scissors
• Straight pins
• Sewing machine
• Steam iron
• Ironing board
• Needle
• Transparent tape
• Zipper foot