How hard is it to sew a duvet cover?

We have a King size bed and we really need a new duvet cover.  It occured to me that I could probably sew one.  Has anyone made one before?  Any tips?  I am thinking I will not be able to just get one giant piece of fabric.  We might like more of a quilt looking one anyway. 

Tips? Ideas? Help?

Thanks!!

My mom and I made a queen size one from sheets when I was a teenager. The hardest thing as I recall was finding a large enough flat surface to lay everything out!

Big tip: put snaps or buttons on the inside seam allowance of the top edge of the cover and the matching snaps or buttonholes on the top edge of the duvet. This makes it so much easier to put the cover on and have it stay neatly in place.

You can also buy really wide fabric for quilt backing even if you decide to patchwork the front.

The higher the "denier" or thread count on sheets, the harder they are to sew if you use sheets.

Really long zippers can be purchased from zipperstop.com or you can recycle one from the garment bags given away when you buy a suit at a men's store. Zippers are a little more work to install but I think they give a nicer finished look than buttons or snaps to the closing end.

I made a king-size duvet cover last year.  I agree, the hardest part was definitely finding a spot large enough to lay it out! I used two king-size sheets.  The top sheet I cut off all of the seamed edges and added patchwork on the sides to make it long enough.  The bottom sheet I left as is.  I closed mine with velcro along one side. I didn't like the idea of being able to see the buttons and didn't want the hassle of trying to find a long zipper and put it in!

I've made several duvet covers over the years.  The easiest way is using two top sheets.  You can piece panels of any fabric to get the right size, but unless you have a lot of room and even more patience, don't [at least for the first time.] 

Before you sew, remove all the hemming and iron the edges flat. It's tempting to try and sew without first removing the existing hems, but it will never lay right on the bed if you do.

You will discover that the sheets appear straight, but they are probably not. 

If the fabric is 100 percent cotton, don't attempt to tear anything to size -- measure and mark with pencil and use a rotary cutter instead. The temptation is to tear, but you will regret this -- trust me, it NEVER is straight.

Match and pin and sew right sides together on one edge at a time.  Take your time.  Use a walking foot, and a medium length stitch.

As for closures, my sister always asks for a zipper; [for king size, you'll need a very, very long zipper LOL] I prefer buttons.  It's whatever you prefer.

You can think of a duvet cover as an enormous pillowcase with hardware.

I'll second the recommend for using sheets--you know they're the right size for the bed, and you won't have any weird seams to sew. 

I have also been wondering about this very thing so thank you for posting the question! Good luck with yours!

I'm making a twin using this tutorial from Sew4Home.  They also give measurements for other sizes.  Sheets would be the fastest, but I like the simple detail in this one.  Good luck and I hope you share pictures

http://sew4home.com/projects/bed-linens/331-pink-and-blue-floral-girls-duvet-cover

My sister sewed a duvet cover before. The same problem was her experience. She find hard time figuring out where she would lay it.