Nothing says “snuggle-up” like cozy in the winter!

“Mad about Plaid”- a cliché phrase used in the apparel industry come Fall/Winter design time to describe a desire to incorporate plaid everywhere… Well, cliché or not, I’m mad about plaid! I LOVE IT. I want plaid EVERYTHING this year! If you don’t like plaid…get out. Just joking.

So, here is my Revamp Champ scenario that I wanted to share with anyone who may be interested.

The Challenge: I see these Pottery Barn, Lands End, Restoration Hardware, The Company Store catalogs come through my door and I admire and desire the cozy plaid flannel photos they offer. In our (often chilly) farmhouse, we all use down-filled comforters on our beds and flannel sheets too. Our beds are COZY! With a down comforter, one should use a DUVET cover so that it can be washed easier, etc… I want a plaid flannel one for winter. These catalogs are charging $120-$190 each plaid flannel duvet, which is a tad expensive for my son’s room. Also, local discount box stores like Target, and even TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Home goods didn’t have any! Actually, they didn’t even sell ANY duvet covers other than white percale-no flannel. Flannel is cozy. Flannel rocks. As does plaid… these buyers don’t know what they’re doing. Ha-ha!

My Revamp Design Solution: Sew a duvet cover for my son’s down comforter. Ok, so you need to know how to use a measuring tape and sew a straight line and apply buttons/buttonholes to do this one. So, if you don’t know how to sew, then maybe this isn’t for you. If you do know how to sew, this is an easy solution. Fabric stores like Joanne Fabrics, sell tons of printed and solid flannel yardages, however, they are narrow goods at only 43″ wide. If you use this, you’d need to buy a ton, and also create panels to make up for enough fabric width, which could involve more measuring, more sewing, and matching up printed patterns=pain in the butt. PLAID FLANNEL SHEET SETS can be found much easier and honestly, lots of department stores discount them by November and they can be found for $19.99/sheet set for any size or even possibly less, like here at Boscovs! These sheet sets offer TONS of 100% flannel yardage to use.

1) If you have access to Flat sheets only— by all means, save yourself any trouble, and get 2 flat sheets! They’re often sold in sets only nowadays though, so buy the LARGEST size available (King) for the biggest pieces of fabric.

2) Cut the elastic edging off of your fitted sheet all around and then carefully cut the sewn-corners of the fitted sheet off too. This process turns your fitted sheet into a big flat piece of fabric to work with.

3) Measure your down comforter. Cut your two sheets to be that size plus leaving about 6″ extra length to the panels as this will be for your opening area and buttons. ***You may wash/dry your sheets first as they probably will shrink a little being 100% cotton, but get them out of the dryer asap so they don’t wrinkle or you’ll need to iron before you measure cut and that’s a LOT to iron (ugh)!*** You don’t have to pre-wash/dry… even if it shrinks a little, or even for seam allowance, it’s ok since a duvet is fluffy and scrunches up, it doesn’t need to match measurements perfectly, in my opinion. My patience doesn’t allow for me to be a perfectly meticulous sewer. But if you are, that’s great!

4)Sew correct-sides facing together all around matching your plaid as best as possible. Pinning helps! Do the top opening last. That’s where you’d fold the one side over about 6″ overlapping the bottom panel for your opening with buttons. I stitch the opening closed from both the left and right side, leaving about 3 feet open to shove the comforter in through. That opening is where 3-4 buttons and buttonholes go! You could use Velcro, I suppose, too.

5) Space your buttons out and sew them on with corresponding buttonholes on the opposite fabric piece, put your down comforter inside and fluff it up- VOILA! Goodnight.

I made my son a fun plaid flannel duvet cover for $19.99. I had buttons, thread, machine, measuring tape, and scissors on hand. Oh, and since I used a sheet set, it comes with 2 matching pillowcases too. Bonus!

Would I do this project again? Yes!

*P.S. Design tip-there is a difference in quality in plaid … Portugese flannel is usually an excellent quality of 100% cotton and finely combed. Organic Cotton is another nice thing to have for obvious reasons. -DYED plaid is much better quality than PRINTED plaid, like I bought for $19.99 from Boscovs. Yarn-dyed means the are dyed and then woven into a plaid. Printed is just that- a plaid design is printed on a flat panel of white fabric. But, printed worked for me and my son just fine!