Anthropologie Cirrus Duvet DIY Tutorial

I have an early Christmas present for you, I finally finished writing the tutorial for the Anthropologie Cirrus DIY duvet cover that I made this summer. Yay! So without further ado, here is my tutorial for the duvet cover:

Anthropologie Cirrus Bedding

My version

This tutorial is made to fit a full/queen sized comforter measuring 88 x 88 inches. Measure your comforter and adjust measurements to fit.

Materials:

2 king size flat sheets

1 queen size flat sheet (for reverse side of duvet)

matching thread

sewing machine

double needle – optional

some sort of closure, I used 3 yards of lace to create ties but buttons or snaps can be used

Sheets at Target about $15-$20 each depending on size

 Part 1: The Front Panel

-       First measure the duvet that will fit inside the cover to determine the size. Double the width (or more if you want a ton of gathers) and add an inch to both length and width to allow for seam allowance. My comforter was 88 x 88” so the measurements were 89” length by 177” width

-       Wash and iron/steam the sheets to prepare them

I found the easiest way to get the wrinkles out is to hang the sheets up and steam them. 

-       Sew the 2 king size sheets together lengthwise

-       Press the seam and spread out the sheets on a very large surface (like the floor) wrong side facing up

-       Cut out the measurement that you took for the comforter so you have a piece of material 89 x 177” with the seam running the long way down the center. Save the extra fabric for use later!

-       Divide the panel into 8 section horizontally, about 11” apart. It’s easier to pick a round number and have a little extra/less on the ends than trying to measure something like 11.362 inches between each section. Save yourself some headaches, you won’t be able to tell when it’s finished anyway

-       Draw the lines on the wrong side of the fabric marking where the gathers will go

Mark on wrong side with pencil

-       Sew down the lines with a basting stitch, leaving a few inches of thread hanging on each side

-       Also baste along the top and bottom of the sheet with a ¼” seam allowance

-       Gently pull one of the threads to gather the sheet to the proper width. (Mine was 89 inches, remember to include room for the seam allowance)

Pin down the strips over the gathered seams

Part 2: The Strips

-       If you get bored sewing straight lines and gathering, you can start making the strips that will be sewn on top of the gathers to hold them in place. These will run the width of the comforter so use the width measurement again

-       Cut 7 strips 1” wide by 89” long (or whatever the width of your duvet will be)

-       Fold each strip in half lengthwise and sew together. I found using a zig zag stitch about ¼” from the edge was most effective and least stressful

-       Press the strips so the seam is in the center

-       Flip the strips over so the seam is facing down and lay on top of the gathered rows, but not the top or the bottom. Pin in place

-       Sew the strips down. I found the best way to do this was to buy a double needle attachment for my sewing machine so I only had to do one pass, but if you don’t have one you can sew a narrow seam on one edge of the strip, and then go back and sew a narrow seam on the other edge

Part 3: The Back Panel

-       Cut the remaining  sheet to the proper length of the comforter (again, mine was 89 x 89” including seam allowance

-       Take the extra fabric from the first two sheets. There should be enough left over to make a top panel. I made the top panel 1½ feet long by 89” wide

-       Sew a 3” hem on one end. This will overlap the bottom panel and be tied together to hold the duvet inside

-       Lay the front panel right side up on the ground. Decide which end will be the top and lay the top panel wrong side up on top of it with the sides matching. Lay the bottom part of the back panel even with the bottom and sides of the front panel, wrong side up. Pin ½” from the edge all the way around the duvet cover to hold everything together

-       Sew around entire cover

Part 4: Closures

-       Decide how you want to have the cover close. I decided to do 5 lace ties

-       I measured 14” between each tie and pinned a 6” strip of lace to the back sides of the back top and bottom panels

-       Sew down the ties (or if you’re really ambitions, create button holes and attach buttons)

-       Flip inside out and stuff your duvet inside. Tie the lace into pretty bows

And you're done! 

I hope that was clear enough to help, please feel free to ask any questions you might have while making it!


Linking up with East Coast Creative 

Fresh New Look

As you probably noticed, I updated the layout of my blog. I'm not sure about the banner so I might keep tweaking that a bit. I think it's a bit easier to navigate this way, but let me know if something isn't working because of the changes. Hope you enjoy the new look!

Happy Thanksgiving

I have so much to thank God for in my life. My family and friends, my fiance, working a job that I love, the fact that I don't have to worry about how the bills are paid, my health, that some of my friends as well as complete strangers are fighting in the military to keep me safe. The list goes on and I need to be better about remembering that everyday, not just on Thanksgiving.

I hope your holiday is full of delicious food and good times with loved ones. Happy Thanksgiving!

Modern American Girl - Happy Birthday Felicity

I'm going to post this a day early since tomorrow is Thanksgiving. My holiday has already started, hope your weekend is great!

I really need to re-read these books because all I remember about this one is that her grandfather comes and she ruins a guitar because she was sneaking around. And apparently a sheep was involved. We're going for a nice springy look to take a break from all the cold weather around here. I thought the pinafore may have been a bit much here, so I stuck to a nice pink floral dress with some flower accessories. Sheep not included.

Taking Time

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Well that was an unexpected but much needed blogging break.  I've been crazy busy doing nothing worth blogging about. I'm putting in longer hours at work since we have a big finalization meeting with upper management coming up and when I get home I'm trying to do wedding planning. The 7 month mark just hit and I freaked out because I have nothing done!!!! While that might be a tiny bit of an overstatement, it certainly feels that way. I couldn't even tell you what I did last week. I'm fried and so looking forward to the long weekend. Pie, here I come!

A Modern American Girl - Felicity's Surprise

I was waiting to post this until I could post the picture of me in her dress as a kid, but I cannot for the life of me find it. I feel that it takes away from this post a bit, but there's nothing to be done. I went classy for this outfit, after all she is attending a ball at the governor's mansion. I feel like that may have been a little awkward, seeing as she just practically threw tea in their faces in the last book, but I guess it would make sense that politics would go over a 10 year old's head. I actually really love this outfit and have half a mind to mimic it for my own Christmas ensemble  this year...

Wedding Wednesday - Mmmm cake

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I'm getting to the point where it's almost time to start looking at cake vendors. I can't wait! I really wanted a chocolate frosted cake, but I was completely shut down by my mom on that. So white buttercream it is. But you better believe it's going to be the most chocolaty delicious goodness of a cake ever. Possibly with yummy raspberry or cherry filling, I haven't decided yet.

Monday Miscellany

Thankfully I'm feeling much better! I was a complete lazy bum last week and didn't have the energy to do anything after work, and really didn't do much this weekend either. But the rest was needed and now I'm ready to go again. A few random things from my weekend:

The Tardis was chilling out in Half Price books. Also, I finally bought Jen Lancaster's new book, Wish You Were Here, which was hysterical.

I seem to have a thing right now for gold jewelry, particularly vintage inspired pieces. I'd like to find a pretty tray to hold everything.

Flannel sheets. I finally bought some and I can't wait to snuggle into bed and bask in their warmth. Bring it on winter, me and my amazingly warm sheets are ready for you! 

And speaking of, I really really am trying not to, but a growing part of me is ready for Christmas time. It started with an Andes mint, which I usually only eat around Christmas, and little things like that have kept popping up making me wish November was over so I can start fully celebrating the holidays and not keep telling myself it's too early. I will not start listening to Christmas music yet, I will not start listening to Christmas music yet,  I will not start listening to Christmas music yet!

Lounging Around

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It's been quiet around here because I'm still fighting that dratted cold. I was feeling much better this past weekend so I thought 'hey, instead of staying at home and going to sleep early to fully recover from my sickness, it would be a great idea to go out Saturday night for Halloween instead and only get 4 hours of sleep!' No, brain, that was not a good idea. And even though you had a good time, instead of feeling better, you relapsed into coldy-snotty sickness. Ew. So I haven't really been doing much besides working and sitting at home because I haven't had the energy. I did go see The Three Musketeers with my roommate. It was terrible. Slightly entertaining because it had lots of explosions and sword fighting and men in boots and leather pants, but even that couldn't take away from how bad this movie was. It was so promising in the beginning, I hoped it would go in sort of a Robin Hood: Men in Tights direction, but no, the movie started taking itself way too seriously and it just ended up being cheesy. Shame.