Making a Duvet Cover for the Guestroom..... Parisian shabby

 You know when you are on the internet and land somewhere you weren't supposed to, on yet another fabric website?  So when I saw this bed made up, I just had to have it, lucky me they were going out of business and they were selling their fabrics for very little money, and I jumped.  It's a risky affair to buy from a company that is liquidating, if there's an issue with the fabric, will they have more to replace it? How would they handle returns?  Yeah, I didn't think of any of that when I jumped in.  It was that tiny gathered ruffle on the pillow sham, so cute.

To start, I repurposed an old white sheet, that didn't seem to have a mate in the fitted sheet department.  I went through a phase where I would only but one sheet, there are some other stragglers that will go in the repurpose pile.    It was too narrow, so I had the length, but not the width.  

 look at those needle marks...

 It was too narrow, so I had the length, but not the width.  I opened up the side seams, now I have to contend with the holes and the permanent creases.  Not even another launder and ironing would remove them.  Drat.

Trimming away....

Eventually they were cut off, and the fabric was squared. 

 I will make up the difference with the print. Let's start.... it's a queen sized duvet, it's not a standard size, so measure yours.  Mine is 88" x 92", then I puzzled over the orientation.  The 88" is from headboard to the end of the bed, and the 92" is across the bed.  I put the duvet on the bed and looked at it from both ways to see which looked best. 

If my fabric didn't require piecing then it wouldn't have mattered, but the fabric is narrower, and the print has direction.  You can hardly see the piecing.

The cover is made with the full width of the patterned fabric down the center, with two side pieces to make up the width. I purchased 5 yards to make this duvet cover and they sent me 5 1/4 yards.  That was enough for one side, and the back sides, where I was short.

I did not measure to determine the size of the cover, the front and back were assembled, and the duvet was put in between the layers.  I pinned the along the edges for the sew line.

 I had considered not prewashing the fabric.  That would have been a mistake, it shrunk 3" across the width, and 5" across the length.  It's within 5%, but still, that would have made the cover too small after washing.

As suggested by the Fabulous Corrine in Sewtopia,  I added rings to the duvet,

 and ties to the inside cover, to keep everything in place.

Tie & ring placement

and Viola!!

The opening is hand stitched closed, until I decide how I want to attack the opening. The opening is finished enough to put in buttons, or velcro.   The one on the website is closed with a long zipper, I may find one in my travels but for now it will stay put.  On to the bedskirt....