Wow! Deja vu (duvet vous?)...wasn't there an earlier post about duvets under $100 today on AT? Many of the posters remarked that it was easy to make your own. Now this post on DIY duvets. Lightning fast! You go, girl!

Great follow up on these discussions. One of the reasons to go for expensive duvets and bedding (aside from design & quality materials), is exclusivity. You're not going to see your duvet cover everywhere if it costs hundreds of dollars. Even better, and far more cost effective, is to make your own.

Even if you don't own a sewing machine, if you pin it all up yourself, ready for stitching, it's still much cheaper at a local tailor's. If you are truly clueless about how to pin it up, then find a friend who sews and have that person help you before taking it to the tailor. I have made three covers from perfectly good, colorful cotton sheets from the local thrift shop. Each one was less than $15 in all.

It's also helpful to have little ties inside the corners of your cover, that you tie around the corners of your duvet and that will keep it from shifting inside the cover be you ever so turny at night. You could just buy some seam binding or use a shoelace cut in half or something, no need to sew up something from the same fabric as the outside, if you're a non-sewer.

Sweet way to save a few bucks and feel totally proud of yourself! I bought an expensive Desoigner Duvet cover once and it was NOT worth it. It was thin and disappointing. With so many nice new fabrics available this season why isnt everybody doing this?? Luvz it!

I sewed my duvet cover. It wasn't hard, but my dog decided to curl up on the pile of fabric while I was sewing the seam.

http://freshlyshucked.blogspot.com/2011/02/weekend-projects.html

Great idea Pythia! I have a duvet cover and I can't keep the quilt in the corners. I am definitely going to sew in some ties to the quilt and in the corner of the seam inside the cover.

Helpful, thanks!

Here's what I want to know: how do you keep a duvet from shifting within the cover? For example, we have a nice cover that we like but the duvet always creeps down from the top. It's so annoying when you pull on it in the cold night and feel nothing but the cover.

I use buttons on both sides to bind my duvet cover to the duvet. I realize not everyone wants to do this, but I had a lot of used comforters in a variety of tired patterns and wanted to cover them permanently. Pythia is on the right track -- Martha Stewart featured the tie trick on one of her shows.

I can't machine sew in a straight line to save my life, so I bought a cheap $30 duvet from Overstock and hand-embroidered it myself: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahartman/3481257193/in/set-72157606872514461/

I made my own too. If you want it to be more substantial than sheets, go check out the upholstery fabric section. I have a middle seam down the middle, but it's also a pretty purple velvet.

Also, I used white shoelaces in each corner, and I tie the comforter to the cover at the corners.

I also made envelope-style (like a bed sham) where you just stuff the comforter inside and fold the top over, tie the corners and viola! no buttons.

I may be showing my age here but why would someone use a duvet rather than a comforter?

I just made one for my sons room yesterday from a pair of sheets we bought at urban outfitters years ago. the fitted sheet lost it's elastic so i repurposed the flat sheet for his youth bed. It took me about 2 hours and looks great!

@KaBoomBOX: You have a point but on the other hand who sees your bedsheets? I can't recall going into the bedrooms of people I've visited so I just buy what makes me happy.

@Runemistress

Aren't they pretty much the same thing?

@Runemistress and @Mrs.Mack, I generally think of duvets as lighter and filled with down or down-alternative. Comforters are usually more tightly stuffed and heavier.
Another way to go about saving on duvet covers is to hit the clearance area where you can find very steep mark-downs, usually on duvet covers that are twin or cal-king sized since those don't sell very well. If you find a style you like, you can join two twins together or sew down a cal-king to the full or queen size you need. I just found a $60 king Marrimekko print duvet cover at the local Crate and Barrel outlet which I'm going to sew down and use the excess fabric to make shams.

It's really easy and affordable to make a duvet cover out of sheets - just use them as you would fabric as explained by meepmeepbibs. Or shop on-line for upscale fabrics at discounts and coordinate your whole apartment. I included a link to my favorite source since I've finished doing my place and thought I'd pass it along.

PS. forgot to include that They also have Free illustrated yardage charts to download for all of your decorating projects too!

Runemistress, the biggest advantage, in my opinion,is that a duvet cover is so much easier to switch out and wash than a comforter. You can use your comforter in the same way as a duvet and make different covers for it, using the 'tie tips' above to hold it in place. With regular duvets, I find that the knack to keeping the duvet in place is to take the bottom two corners (gripping both cover and duvet tightly) and give it a couple of shakes toward the head of the bed. You'll find that the duvet rearranges itself nicely inside the cover ... in much the same way it magically slipped downwards during the night ! The trick is to make sure your homemade cover is snug, not too big for the duvet you're using. The idea for the ties in the corners has been used for a hundred years or so in Europe and works very well indeed.

Umm.....not to be Debbie Downer, but if I had the space, and money to own an actual sewing machine, I feel fairly confident that I would be able to make a duvet cover !! Is there a way to make this by hand!! I live in a fairly typical 500 sq ft studio in NYC with no space for a sewing machine!! Would it work if you made it by hand? What stitch would you recommend to hold it together securely?

Spooner68, Yes You CAN make it by hand! I'd recommend using the back stitch for strength. Takes a little longer than running stitch but you get into a rhythm with it. Sewing by hand gives you a wonderful feeling of pride when you're done, and even while doing it. I even think running stitch would be OK, with maybe a back stitch every so often. Unless you're wild in the sack or a hard on linens in general! Happy Stitchin'!