New Comforter: Repurposed Duvet

As you know, my third anniversary with my husband was last week. And in the past three years of marital bliss, I have to confess that our bed looked like this:



And in case you can't quite see in the above picture, here is a close up of that comforter:



Pretty faded daisies, tulips, hearts, and ribbons. And let's not forget the super-awesome yarn ties. Don't get me wrong, this comforter has a very special place in my heart. My grandma made this comforter for me when I got my first big girl bed at the young age of 5, and it is to this day the most comforting comforter ever. However, not the most appropriate for a married couple. Also, it's made for a full size bed, and we have a queen.

Now taking a step back, we did actually get some bedding when we got married three years ago. We registered for a nice down comforter and and charcoal gray duvet and skirt/sham set. Since we were moving to Chicago and assumed it was cold all the time, the down comforter made sense to us. Fast forward a couple months, we got to Chicago, and guess what?

Down comforters are hot.

Really, really hot.

We lasted about 3 months with it before giving up all together, and the down comforter has lived in the closet ever since.

I recently started looking for some new bedding, but just couldn't find anything I really liked. I also kept comparing everything to the charcoal duvet set I already had, since I really liked the shade and feel of the fabric. Finally, one day it hit me: just make the duvet cover into a comforter!

And that's exactly what I did.



I started by taking out all the seams and laying it out on the floor. Of course, you know me, I couldn't just stick some batting in it and call it a day. I had to make it my own!

After heaps of scraps and plenty of measuring, cutting, and sewing, it started to take its new form.



I sewed a stripe down the center using this pretty Joel Dewberry Damask fabric.



I then stuffed it with two layers of extra-loft batting, queen size. I lightly tacked it in a couple places to keep it from shifting (sorry Grandma, no yarn ties!), and my new comforter was complete!

...Ok, in reality this took me a ton of hours spread out over two days. Sewing something this large takes a lot of time and measurement, and being creative with the stripe just adds to the time! Not to mention, I also got a little creative with the underside...



I decided it would be fun to sew the underside using a yellow fabric to pull out the yellow in the damask, and continue the stripe down the center. I love how I can make my bed now two different ways to get two different looks!