can this be done? ... and be comfortable
 

i've had a "dream" item in my head for a long time... from WAY before i started to sew...

i've thought about having a reversible duvet cover. this means that it would have FOUR usable sides instead of TWO.

now, i know that this can be done with sheets: as in one piece of fabric for each side.

but my question to you all is... if i were to piece each of the four sides and GENTLY quilt them (as in using the thinnest batting), can this be something that can be comfortable to sleep under.

i imagine it can be. i guess i'm mostly writing this post to see if anyone else has thought of this and executed it... how did it work out for you?

thanks for any and all info

SURE why not.. . im sure you can use french seams.. start out with a pillow case and work out the kinks and then make the big one..

I agree it can absolutely be done....but i would worry a bit about the final weight once the duvet was inside ...might be too heavy to be comfortable to sleep under.....particularly for an on the back sleeper...your toes would feel squished !:p

good point!
i could play with the idea of piecing two of the four sides, maybe.

lol then again, i'm used to sleeping with a 65lb puppy on top of me... so weight might not be that much of an issue lol

I disagree. I have a high quality percale Lands End percale cotton duvet cover & I dislike it because it is heavy. I can't imagine how heavy four layers of fabric would be.

You might want to try some samples with a thin poly batting vs a thin cotton batting first. The poly will probably be lighter weight and with those number of layers, more comfortable. Or possibly, just use flannel as a batting?

yeah, flannel was what i was thinking. something THIN.

For a duvet cover I wouldn't use any batting ... unless I was really cold.

I bought some sheets at Macys and they are reversible. I bought gray ones. One side is light gray the other dark gray. They are really nice sheets, very high thread count and feels so nice. You might check into that and make your cover using two sheet of different colors.

A 2 sided duvet cover is very heavy with a cheap fluffy comforter inside. 4 sides would be even heavier. But it could be done. I'd do flat fel seams, though, rather than French seams.

My bed, right now, has a flannel sheet set, an empty duvet cover- (two layers of flannel), a flannel quilt (top and backing is flannel--batting is two thick poly layers), and a regular quilt on top! Granted, we keep the bedroom very cold, but I wouldn't worry about the weight. :)

I wouldn't worry about weight either. I think I sleep normally with 2-4 blankets/quilts on ,y side of the bed! :) (in the winter)

I work for a big up market linen company , we have had double sided covers for a couple
years they are one of our biggest sellers , don't know about 4 sides would not be easy
keeping all four even , and quite hot to sleep under.
I quite often buy an extra flat sheet and put boarders on my sheet to match my covers .
Cathy

How will you wash it?

Brrrrr..as I read this I thought you were writing from the arctic.....( just kidding)....I cannot sleep/live in cold....maybe because growing up the house was cold at night and I have rebelled! I sleep between sheets...cotton...and one quilt made with one layer of W&N....

Could someone please explain the purpose of a duvet? Is it a cover for a comforter? Why?

To make a reversible duvet...why not just make two lovely quilts? JMHO

My idea about the purpose of the duvet cover came when my hubby and I purchased a high quality goose down comforter many years ago. It was all we needed for covers - like sleeping under a cloud. Unfortunately, the ticking and goose down aren't supposed to be washed that often, if ever. Detergent and water strips the feathers and makes them less insulative. You put the compforter out to air, and shake it to redistribute the down. Then, we had a duvet cover to protect the comforter. We could take it off and wash as often as we wanted, like we would in changing the sheets. In fact it was our top sheet. It lasted a long time, before I had to make another for our comforter.

About the weight issue. Remembering that there is chocolate and vanilla because people differ as to their favorite.

My preference is heavy, heavy, warm, warm all over me when when it's cold outside. My husband is the other end of the spectrum. He does not feel the cold and his toes even fuss if I tuck the sheets in. I am lucky to have a thick quilt. He is diabetic and I think that is part of the difficulty. Anyway, the bed is a king.

So. There is a contraption that fits onto the bottom of the bed, the top sheet and any and all blankets, comforters, quilts, afghans, etc. to be ever so carefully draped over it, keeping weight off delicate toes. Now if you you are like us, see if you can find one that does the bottom of the bed trick but ONLY the appropriate half. His side has a quilt and the contraption on it. Mine has no contraption, the other half of the king-sized quilt layered with something thick and warm and heavy folded in half, lengthwise, on it. I am submerged in warmth from the bottoms of my feet to my sizable nose. He is his version of comfy.

Hurry summer.

P

Nope, just from Missouri! :) I, too, grew up in a house that was cold at night, but I liked it! Often, with all of the covers, even when it is really cold, I sleep with my feet sticking out from under--acts as a regulator! :)

A duvet is to protect your comforter. You can remove the duvet cover and launder that much more often than the comforter. We have a down comforter and no way am I going to launder that more than once a year. I made a two-sided pieced duvet a few years ago. I have 90" wide muslin inside and stitched thru the muslin and both the top and the other side thru the muslin. I wanted the muslin to protect all those seam allowances from the pieced top and second top side, when I put the down comforter in and out. Just by itself it's four layers of fabric. That's all I have on the bed for warmth in the summer besides a top and bottom sheet. When the down comforter goes inside, it doesn't feel heavy, but when I need to fluff it and rearrange it on the bed, I notice it is much heavier than the old duvet cover I made that was just two layers of fabric. I'm wondering why you think you need to put a thin batting between your two layers of outer and inner fabric layers? The duvet is a cover not a quilt.

Yup! My pieced and appliqued top and bottom, a layer of thin thermore and the backing is organza. The comforter slides in and out easily and is lighter than a quilt (even just a flannel quilt).

My husband had purchased a really nice, warm comforter before we met but it was ugly, as in black on one side and gray on the other. I bought two high quality light blue cotton king top sheets and made a duvet cover for it. I used the top hems for the bottom of the cover and put buttons and button holes in them to close it up. To keep this heavy comforter from shifting inside the cover, I placed a few ties along the top and down the two long sides. Now, nearly 11 years later, we still sleep comfortably under it every winter. You could probably use the same (or similar) idea to make it reversible without using batting.

Just to add to the 'weight' debate...... Bear in mind that one of the reasons Goose Down is so warm is because of way it traps the air. I certainly notice a difference in loft when I use a heavier, damask cover as opposed to a thinner cotton one. I shake my duvet more with the heavier cover to fluff it back up.

I think it would wind up being very heavy. Remember it is pieced so you have all the extra weight of seams, batting, thread. It all adds up.