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A friend brought me a comforter that her son owns. It hsd a design of a well known sports team on the front and this part of the comforter is in good condition. The back however, had several places where the material had torn or worn through and the batting inside is matted and/or missing. She had purchased a new comforter in a plain color and she asked if it would be possible for me to remove the old top and attach it onto the top side of the new comforter. The top of the new comforter would be left intact and the old top would be attached over it. I feel this is possible but is something I will have to work through bit by bit. The size of the comforters may be slightly different so allowances may need to be made when combining pieces of the two. I am hoping to be able to simply turn edges under and stitch or possibly zigzag the edges. I am thinking that I should do some type of quilting or stitching to keep the added piece in place. Hopefully if I need extra fabric to bring the original top to size I can use portions of the back that are still in good shape. If not I will purchase additional fabric or figure out another method to achieve completion. Am I thinking correctly and has anyone taken on a similar project? All comments and suggestions appreciated. The young man loves the original comforter and would be so happy if I could come up with a way to somehow give that top new life.

bearisgray

Any possibility of finding another comforter for that sports team?

A lot of non sewers have no idea of how much work is involved to execute some of their ideas/requests.

Im sure it could be done, but i would do my best to avoid the project.

CathieD

I'm never a fan of remaking something as I've found that it's easier and less frustrating to start fresh than to piecemeal something together. The quilts that I make are barely 3 dimensional; store bought comforters are usually pretty fluffy and I'm wondering how you would get a fluffy comforter under your sewing machine needle? Even a walking foot has its limits. The way I would do this is remove the sports fabric, turn raw edges under twice and sew using either a 1/8" or 1/4" top stitch on all four sides. I wouldn't bother with new borders. I'd let the new comforter fabric act as faux borders by centering the sport fabric onto the new comforter and pin, pin, pinning it in place. Try to machine stitch. If it's too much for your machine and your stitches aren't looking pretty then hand stitch it using a slip stitch or any stitch that you can barely see. I would hand tie the quilt to keep all the layers together. If you think of it, post some before and after pictures. I'd love to see what you come up with and how you achieved it. Best wishes!

JanieW

I'm with bearisgray. I wouldn't take this on for love nor money. Would the owner consider using the original part that is in good shape to make a cushion/pillow? It would be much easier and still keep the integrity of the original comforter; just in a different form. It might be worth running it by him. Good luck with whatever way you decide to go.

bearisgray

CathieD 's suggestion to applique the old top to the new comforter seems to be fairly doable.

If the comforter is very puffy, I would just handstitch the old top down by hand.
Why not do a buttonhole/ blanket stitch? I think it might be easier than trying to do invisible stitching..

Has the old comforter been washed? Did it shrink? Will the new comforter shrink when it is washed?
if it is puffy, it probably won't make much difference.

Are you doing this as a favor or are you getting paid for it?

Better to over estimate the time that may ve involved than to under estimate it.

what is rhe quality of the new comforter? You said the old top is in good condition?

illinois

Are the old comforter and the new one the same size? I'm wondering if you can harvest the top from the old one and sew it to the new comforter. Can it be attached right sides together, sewn at the edges, turned right side out, then tie it instead of quilting it? I think this might be what you are suggesting. Like CathyD, I question being able to get the new comforter under the presser foot.
If the old comforter was quilted together, getting the top off is going to leave stitch marks. It might be better to simply patch the missing batting in the old one and put a new back on it.

QuiltBaer

Would the boy be agreeable to having a quilt made from the old comforter? The old top could be layered with batting and a backing and quilted.

mkc

That would involve picking/ripping all the existing quilting out to de-skin the old comforter. A lot of commercially-made comforters also use high-tensile strength poly (think mono-poly) thread, which is tough to cut through. You also risk damaging the top.

I wouldn't take on that job.

Onebyone

I was trying to figure out if this could be 'birth' in any way. If possible to get it under the machine that would be the way I'd do it.

toogie

If you’re willing to take on this project, this might be more work, but easier in the long run. Since I believe there is a difference in size, I would take the whole comforter apart. Then I would layer and quilt like you normally would. You would have one whole piece of new comforter for binding. However, the first thing I would do is ask the friend to return the comforter. Then go choose backing fabric and high loft batting if that’s what she is wanting. Good luck deciding and making. Let us see when you finish all the before and after shots, if you do go forward with this request.