Happy Monday -

Hoping all of you had a great Thanksgiving weekend with your family. My Mom is currently en route to my house, tile saw in tow! Eek! The thought of having a tiled bathroom floor is beyond exciting. My guest bath still has linoleum (ugh) and the master bath is carpeted (gasp).  WHO on earth carpets a bathroom?! C’mon previous owner… that’s never a good idea.

My sister Christy’s joining us again today with another awesome reveal.  She’s been kind enough to write a tute on the uh-mazing duvet she made with her own bare hands. Seriously people… when I say this girl is crafty… it’s an understatement.

While doing a Pinterest search for new duvet cover ideas, I thought I’d share with you how I made my Anthropologie/Target/West Elm duvet cover knockoff!  Mine has held up fantastically through multiple washings, stain removals, dog naps (both large and small), and even some dog bites.  Come on, you know our families are dog people and when we get together for the holidays, the dogs outnumber the humans 2 to 1!!  I’ll show you the after picture first to get you hooked!

Okay, now let’s get to the story of how this duvet cover came to be.  When I moved into the house, the walls were beige and there was a built-in desk where the dormer window is.  I tore out the desk and painted the walls celery green.

It was a very cheery room and I loved the colors for at least two years.  J  But, I inevitably wanted to paint the walls a more masculine color (in appreciation of a very handy man).  I chose the dark gray/blue because it seemed moody, relaxing, and went with the color scheme of the rest of my house.  I really have bought in to Young House Love’s whole house color scheme idea and agree that it seems to make the house feel larger.  But, after painting (and some dog paw prints that wouldn’t come out of my brown/white duvet cover), I needed a new duvet cover and pillows.

I made the navy blue pillow shams using a navy blue corduroy that I got from Joann’s using a 50% off coupon of course.  I used a pattern, but they were really easy.  I basically just made them like a pillowcase.  The rest of the pillows and shams in the picture were from Target on clearance.  The two large euro shams on the window seat were only $2.48 each!!!  I love the Target clearance sections!  I also hung Target window panels over each of the windows.  My bedroom has tons of light, which I love, but it makes it difficult to place a bed.  So, I created a fabric backdrop for my bed by placing 4 window panels behind the headboard to help disguise the fact that my bed sits in front of a window.

Now, let’s get to the duvet cover!   I took inspiration from Anthropologie (below left) and West Elm (below right)…

And from Target, Wal-mart, etc.  Really, there are so many stores that have this style of comforter or duvet cover.  Here was my list of requirements:

1. It would have to be a duvet cover for ease of washing.
2. I wanted white because I’m addicted to the color.
3. No buttons on my tucks because it would be too easy for puppy teeth to grab.
4. The tucks can’t be weak.
5. It’s gotta be CHEAP!

So, I found a tutorial on Pinterest and got to work.  When I came across this tutorial from Living on the Chic.  I used two king size flat sheets to make my king size duvet cover and only deviated from her tutorial when it came to how I made my pin tucks.  I practiced on an old pillowcase to get my technique down.  I apologize that I have NO in-progress pictures, but again, Living on the Chic does a great job of showing how it’s done.

1. Wash and dry your sheets first!
2. I used my cutting mat to mark my grid on my white sheet.  That was definitely a nice bonus to using a white sheet (being able to see through it to mark the locations of the tucks)!
3. For the tucks, I folded the fabric over three times with the mark being the point on the backside of the sheet.
4. I then used my sewing machine to sew back and forth over the folds at about ¼” in so that the tip was then a triangle shape.
5. Followed the rest of Living on the Chic’s tutorial from there!
6. I also sewed small ribbons at the corners on the inside of the duvet cover to be able to tie in my corners of my duvet so that it stays put inside the cover.  I stole that idea from Ikea, thank you very much!

It really was super easy.  Here is the top of the duvet cover when I was halfway done.  I think the smile is from exhaustion and not because I was actually happy.

And, here is the final shot when I was finished…

What would I do differently?  I definitely wouldn’t do a 6” spacing next time for a king size duvet cover.  It took FOREVER.  Also, the top of the duvet cover will get slightly smaller after “pintucking”.  So, I would suggest using a king size sheet for the top of a queen cover and then just trimming it to match the back side sheet that would be a queen.  Does that make sense?  I hope so.  Basically, you just want to have some extra fabric for your tucks on that top sheet.

Thanks for listening and best of luck!  My next duvet cover will be inspired by this Anthropologie beauty!!!

Linking up at these fabulous parties!  Special thanks to Home Stories A2Z for hosting!

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