How to Make Sham-Style Duvet Covers
Making a new duvet cover is a quick and easy sewing project that can be successfully achieved even by sewing novices. It is an inexpensive way to give your bedroom a new look. A sham-style duvet cover has an overlapping envelope-type opening at the back for inserting and removing your duvet. This style of opening ensures that your duvet remains securely inside the cover without the need to add bulky buttons or zippers. Choose a fabric that is soft to the touch, machine-washable and breathable like 100-percent cotton or flannel. These instructions are for a twin-size duvet, measuring 68 inches by 88 inches, but the method can be used to make a sham-style cover for any size duvet.
Things You'll Need
- Fabric rectangle, 186 inches by 71 inches
- Sewing machine
- Thread
- Pins
- Measuring tape
- Scissors
- Iron
Instructions
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1
Press the fabric rectangle well with the iron. Fold one of the shorter edges of the rectangle over by a 1/2 inch to the wrong side of the fabric and then fold it over by another 1/2 inch. Press and pin this hem, then repeat for the opposite shorter edge of the rectangle.
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2
Sew the double-fold hems by straight-stitching along the inner folded edges.
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3
Smooth the fabric over a flat surface wrong side down. Measure and mark a point with a pencil 7 inches from the bottom hem of the fabric on each side. Mark another point on both sides of the fabric 96 inches from the bottom hem.
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4
Fold the bottom edge of the rectangle horizontally at the first marks so that the right sides of the fabric are pressed together. Press along the fold and pin the 7-inch-long side seams.
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5
Fold the top edge of the rectangle at the second set of pencil marks so that the right sides of the fabric are pressed together. Press along the top fold and pin along the side seams, overlapping the other hemmed end at the bottom of the duvet cover. Re-pin the overlapping section to pin all three layers together.
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6
Sew the side seams through all the layers with a 1/2-inch seam allowance. Trim any loose threads and turn the duvet sham right sides out.
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Tips & Warnings
Fold the fabric so that the overlapping section (the opening) is at the bottom, as the other end will be more comfortable when sleeping. If you are using a fabric with an obvious pattern, such as a novelty children's fabric with cartoon characters, make sure the pattern is the right way around before pinning and sewing.
If you don't have enough fabric to sew the duvet cover in one piece, use two pieces and seam them at the top end.
When calculating the cut fabric dimensions for a different size duvet cover, remember to add a few inches to both the width and length of the duvet to allow for ease, in addition to the seam, hem and overlap allowances.
