yesterday has seen the end of my sewing marathon. i am leaving europe on monday and had 2 blankets left to finish…about time i finished them, right? right!
so here is a step by step guide to a baby duvet cover.
M is for godmother love 
1 – it all started out with me wanting to do something unique and personalized for my godson M so i decided to have this big M as a centerpiece to the duvet cover. this is actually the first letter i ever did and it was a challenge but thanks to google i sort of figured out what to do. i broke down the M in squares and a triangle and used an appliquee stitch to sew it onto the green fabric. by the way, i only bought the dark green fabric and used left-overs of the light blue and some brown fabric i had.
the M is being “framed”
2 – i then proceeded to “frame” the M so that the blanket itself would grow. i normally have a pattern drawing to guide me along in the process but this time around i kind of failed doing that. so i was playing it by ear but tried to keep the color scheme.
squares and some green
3 – i then sewed brown and blue stripes together and cut them apart in squares only to sew them back up together (offset) and combine that with a green square the same size as 4 small squares. i guess in that picture you can’t really tell but once you have a look at the pillow case you’ll see what i mean.
trying to find a pattern
4 – since i did not really measure (the size was sort of determined by the scrap fabric i had) i eventually got to the point where i had to fiddle around to see if i could establish a pattern that would eventually yield the blanket size i was going for. i had the brown/blue squares, green squares, and the option of sewing the two together.
inside out to attach the backside
5 – at this point in time i had already moved to my mom’s (hence the different background). i bought an uni light blue fabric for the backside of the duvet cover. i wanted something that worked with the light blue from the front but wasn’t as busy (the tiny squares in the blue fabric can get annoying after a while). since my mom has carpet flooring i used her ironing board to pin the backing to the front piece.
6 – insert a horrifying round of sewing zippers (to the pillow case also). i hate sewing zippers. i’m sure there’s a trick to it that i just wasn’t able to find out yet. plus it’s practice also and since i try to avoid sewing zippers i can’t get the practice in. vicious circle!
the final result! the duvet cover and pillow case are done!
7 – with the last thread cut off i present you the final result: my godson’s personalized duvet cover and pillow case. the light blue and dark green go really well together. it’s a soothing mix yet not too childish. by the way, the M is on sideways because i figured a child’s bed is usually approached from the side and i wanted his parents to see the letter the right way. with this layout i think the M is framed very nicely but is not the sole point of attention for the eye.
view of the back
8 – the back of the pillow case looks just like the front, the zipper is sewn to the shorter end.
the back of the duvet cover is a solid light blue.
close-up
9 – here’s the close-up of the back with the front. it’s sort of hard to tell but the two blues are very similar. the blanket is big enough to hold a baby duvet.
As all of my sewing endeavors, it’s not perfect but i am super proud of myself. i never took a class, i can only sew straight lines and lord help me if there’s a zipper involved!
let me know what you think of the duvet cover. and if it inspired you to your own blanket/cover show me pictures!
franzi
and for the fun of it here’s a slideshow to enjoy
