How to Sew A Twin Duvet Cover


First we showed you How to Sew A Duvet Cover and gave you measurements for all different sizes.  Well, Scarlet outgrow the crib size duvet I made, so it was time for a twin.

How much fabric do you need to sew a twin duvet cover? This question is so hard to find an answer to out there on the Internets – so much conflicting info.

So, I was left to my own devices to figure it out, and because I love you, I will tell you how much fabric you need to sew a twin duvet cover, and how I pieced it together to get the most of my yardage.

Check out How to Sew a Twin Duvet Cover after the jump…

How to Sew A Twin Duvet Cover

For this duvet cover, I used some beautiful (girly but modern!) fabric: Anna Maria Horner Innocent Crush (Home Decor Weight) Bubble Burst in Berry.

I ordered this twin comforter which was the least expensive decent one I could find on amazon.  It’s a standard size of 66″x86″. Many twin comforters will vary from that by an inch or two (or more), so just measure yours first and account for an difference when cutting your fabric.

So, how much fabric do you need to sew a twin duvet comforter?  You need 7.5 yards of 54″ wide fabric.  Home decor weight fabric is 54″ wide.  Let me tell you how I came to this in a very confusing manner, then show you a diagram so it all makes sense (hopefully).

Now, you could create two flat panels for either side of the duvet by piecing your fabric together, but I wanted to use as little as possible of my fancy fabric to get the most out of it.  To do that, I started by cutting the entire width of my fabric (this is home decor fabric so it is 54″ wide) to the length I needed it, which is the length of the duvet plus 4 inches.  So 86″ + 4″= 90″ long, which is 2.5 yards.  So cut that, and you have 2 panels 54″ wide and 2.5 yards long.  Thats a total of 5 yards used so far.

Now we need to increase the width from 54″ to 66″ on both panels, plus seam allowances.  We don’t want a seam on only one side of our duvet – that would look unbalanced, we need to have the seams on both sides of our center panels we just cut.  So we could cut four strips – two for the top and two for the bottom, then create two flat panels, but that would be lots of extra work.  Instead, I decided to cut only two strips that would wrap around the sides of the duvet, attaching to the front and back panel.  Here is how I figured it:

54″-2″ for seam allowances = 52″ is what we have on each panel so far.
66″ + 2″ for the thickness of the comforter = 68″ is what we want on each side
68″-52″=14″ is what we need on either side of each panel.
14″ + 4″ for seam allowances = 18″ panels.

We already know our length is 2.5 yards.  So cut 2 strips 2.5 yards long by 18″ wide.  You will have an additional piece of fabric 18″ wide X 2.5 yards leftover to make pillows, ruffles, or other accents with.

So start with one of your 54″X2.5 yard panels. Along the 2.5 yard side, sew one of your 18″X2.5 yard strips to it using a 1″ seam allowance (it’s that large because I used a french seam).

Then sew the other 18″ strip to the other side of the 54″ panel.

Now grab your other 54″ wide X 2.5 yard panel.  Sew it to one of the side panels along the 90″ side.

Now bring the two unfinished 90″ edges together and sew the seam, creating a tube.

Now we want to center the two 54″ wide panels by folding the side panels in half, so they go from 16″ to 8″ with a fold.  Iron.

Now with your duvet inside out, sew the top side closed and finish the edge by serging, sewing with a ziz zag stitch, or cutting with pinking shears.

Now I wish I had taken pictures of this but I didn’t so bear with me.  You can also head over to our original duvet cover tutorial here, and look at the pics from step 3.  But what you want to do on the bottom of the duvet is fold the entire seam under 1/4″ and iron and sew in place.  Now fold it in another 2″ and iron.  Lay it flat and sew from the corner 17″ in and back stitch.  Repeat on the other corner.  Attach your snaps or velcro to the inside flap you just created.  Yeah, way confusing without pics right?  Check the original duvet tutorial for pics.

Did this just  make it more confusing?  Sigh, I tried!  Despite this seeming a little confusing, once you are sewing it, it is actually a VERY simple project.  It’s just a lot of fabric to work with.

Done.

Time to hide from daddy!

Sleep tight little bean.

by

51 Comments

Leia

I always have a hard time keeping the comforter in the duvet cover nicely. They always seem to bunch up into one corner. So I stopped using the covers. Is there a way to deal with that? Or does my family just sleep roughly with the covers?

Reply
Sugarpucker

Better late than never – they sell clips that will clip the 4 corners of the comforter to the cover (on the inside). I have also tied them with hair ties, in a pinch. Some covers now have ties inside to facilitate. 🙂

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Jaime

leia- i know what you are talking about, and i think because this one (its clearer in the original tute) has a flap at the bottom it holds it in place better, but another option is to sew some times into the top corners and then put a grommet on the top corners of the actual comforter and tie it in place at the corners…

Reply
ETWsmom

You have the most wonderful ideas that I have started to sew more and more now all I need is the energy to do it! This summer I made curtains for my son's newly redone room and tried to find fabric that matced to his IKEA duvet cover….I think a.) get same fabric and make duvet or go back to IKEA and get another duvet cover and make some more curtains out of that and then repurpose the old cutains..sorry for the ramble decisions, decisions.

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RookieMom Whitney

I made them for both my kids, but took a different approach. I bought a cheapo comforter from IKEA and created a duvet cover for it, then sewed it in place (closed) with some haphazard quilting-style action. Now I just throw the whole thing in the wash when it gets peed on.

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Tina T

Genuis! I made my daughters, but I did it the too much cutting and measuring way by creating four panels for the sides of the front and back. This is why I love this blog, craft-i-ly efficient!

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janebabes

This could not have come at a better time. I hopped on here just now specifically to see if you gals had any info on exactly how much fabric I would need to make a twin size duvet cover. What luck 🙂 I need to make three! for my little boys to go with their new bunk beds. Thanks, crafty, prudent ladies!

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ashley horton

My duvet cover is under my machine and almost finished! I had a spare king size duvet so I'm resizing it and sewing it up. Also to keep the fabric a little cheaper I'm using a flat sheet for the bottom. So glad I googled directions because I found this amazing site!

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darcey

This is a fantastic tutorial and perfectly timed! A question though…With the design of my daughter's bed, there is no way for bedding to drape over the end & sides. So, I was thinking of making a custom sized quilt/duvet of approximately 50"x72". It looks as though your daughter has the same bed and I wonder if you think this would work for it? Or, alternatively, what do you do with the extra bedding on your standard twin size?
Thanks,
Darcey

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sp

Thanks for this tutorial. I made my daughter a twin duvet cover over 10 years ago and she still uses it. It has held up well. Love your blog!
Sandra

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Jesse K

I find it very hard to find modern fabrics for boys especially with animals, trains or airplanes. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks!

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Rachel

Just a note… I always had a hard time with duvet covers bunching and the things that you can buy from bed bath and beyond never stayed put so what i did was bought some white elastic and created 4 small loops and sewed one into each of the inside corners of the duvet cover and then hand sewed a button that would fit into the loop onto each corner of my comforter so I could button them in. It has worked pretty well for me… also for my king size comforter i put loops and buttons halfway between each corner as well. It might sound like a pain to do the actual buttoning but it always looks good without all the bunching.

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Carol

I was thinking along the same lines, but wasn’t sure of the logistics. Your idea of using an elastic button hole sounds really easy to someone who is not a very proficient stitcher (but I can sew a straight line!).

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Jessica

THANKS! I was just pricing on Pottery Barn and almost had a stroke! Time to get out the machine! 🙂 ALSO Thanks Rachel for the button and elastic tip! This is going to fix alot of problems in my house!

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Eponymia

This looks beautiful!

Here’s a question — say I was to sew a duvet that was a solid on one side and a print on the other side. How many yards would I need of each fabric?

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Cassandra James

I am wondering the same thing as the last reader. How much yardage would you need if you are doing two separate sides?

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Lisa Frank

Eponymia and Cassandra James,

If you’re using a printed fabric just on the top side {and a cheaper fabric or flat sheet on the bottom side}, I would think you’d need 5 yards. 2.5 yards for the center panel + another 2.5 yard piece, cut in half vertically, for the smaller panels on either side.

I want to make a twin duvet comforter for my son’s room, but I’ve never really sewn anything before except pillow covers. If I imagine a duvet like a giant pillow cover, couldn’t I just use two flat sheets and sew them together on 3 sides like a giant pillowcase? Would the dimensions be correct?

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Angelique

Love the tutorial!

Just noticed a problem with the math above. When determining the size of the side panels, it says “68-52=14.” it should be 16, though.

I was double checking the math so I could make one with regular quilting fabric.

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Iron Age @ Violently Domestic

[…] the putting together bits.  I more or less did this.  There’s another helpful tutorial over here.  They know more about sewing than I do, so it’s likely best to do what they said rather […]

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Heather

So confused at first but once I read through your directions carefully it made total sense. Brilliant! I hated the idea of having a seam down the middle of both sides just in case my pattern matching wasn’t perfect but having the look of three panels on each side is perfect (threes are always better right). Would also work great with a contrast fabric for the smaller panels. Thanks so much. I’ll be adapting your tutorial on my website when I talk about my duvet cover (giving credit to your amazing instruction of course!).

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Andi Roth

I used your instructions to make a duvet cover for my son’s big boy bed. They were exactly what I needed! I modified mine a bit because my fabric was only 44″ wide and I wanted to make it reversible (different fabrics on front and back). I would not even have known where to begin without your blog, so a big thank you!

Note: the link to your toddler/crib duvet instructions is broken. I needed to visit your main page and do a search to find it. Perhaps update the post with the new link?

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Delanie

To also save on expensive designer fabric, I use inexpensive, but soft, flat sheets in a coordinating color as the bottom piece of my duvet covers. Sewing ribbon or seam binding in the inside corners to tie to the comforter helps keep that comforter in place.

Reply
Elle Boone

Hi! Would it be possible to follow these directions and do a cover with two different fabrics on each side?

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