How to Make Your Own Coverlet

What you need: A sewing machine, thread, cisor, fabric and fillilng.

All fabric stores offer pattern packaegs on making beddings and they are very well written. How ever, an instruction for making a coverlet is pretty simply. Most novice seamtress should be able to make one.

Before heading for the fabric store, make sure you take down the detail measurement of your bed.

A coverlet is often 25 to 30 inches longer and wider than the bed. Add these numbers to the bed measurement and you have the measurement for the coverlet.

You need to start out with decorator fabric for the top layer. Jaquard, damask, mattelasse, silk, chenille and cotton are often the choices. You need to buy twice the length of the coverlet. Make sure you check out how to care for the fabric. Most 100% cotton needs no dry cleaning, but almost all decorators' fabric are dry clean only.

Same amount is for the backing. Backing fabric should be well co-ordinating with the top and often in plainer design. It's usually the same kind of fabric quality or less since it will be faced down. If you do not use flat sheet, a soft comforting material is well needed. I prefer 100% chenille, cotton or flannel

Ideal batting is wool and then cotton. However, wool is sometimes hard to work with if you are not familiar with this type of batting. Hobbs' Heirloom has the kind of bonded wool batting that is as easy to work with as cotton or polyester. The price is also reasonable.

The next choice is cotton. However, please keep in mind that cotton is very comfortable to sleep in but not as warm as wool or polyester. Especially with this extreme cold winter like this year, you will defintely prefer a thick heavy comforter filled with feather and down, wool or polyester.

All the filling prepackaged corresponding to bed sizes. You have crib size, twin, full, queen and king.

You might also want to pick up some pretty trim or extra matching fabric to go around the edges. Please keep in mind that the fabric used around the edges will be cut cross length.

To prepare the top, cut the top fabric in half crosswise, keep one half as the center piece of the coverlet. The other half needs to be in half cut lengthwise. Now you have 3 pieces with the same length, which also is the finished length of the covlerlet plus seam allowance, but 2 of them are only half the width of the third one.

Sew three peices together side by side with the largest pieces in the center. This will divert the attention of the seams since the seams are not smack in the middle of the comforter. Trim both sides of the top to your desired width. Please always keep the center piece of fabric centered, which means the 2 side peices will always be exact the same size. Now you have your basic top piece done. If you have any trims for the edges, this is the time to add it.

Sew the trim aorund the edges of the top with the pretty side that you want to show off on the edges facing inward the top pieces, not towards the outer edge of the top piece fabric (the pretty edge will be on the right side of your sewing machine's needle). THis is important to remember since after sewing and turning inside out, that edge will be adoring around the edges of the comforrter. Join the 2 ends of the trim together by having one on top of the other and tuck the ends to the edge of fabric.

Repeat the same procedure for the backing except adding trims.

CUt the batting/filling to the exact measurement of the comforter you wish to make.

Now three layers are ready for final assembling.

Layer your top piece flat on a long table (76 inches or longer) , face up matching the middle of the top with the middle of the table. If you do not have a long table, lie it flat on the floor, use your hand or a yard stick to straighten out all wrinkles and folds.

Next, layer the backing straight on top of the top piece, make sure that it match the top perfectly well. This backing will be facing down.

The last one goes on is the batting/filling. Layer it the same way you lay the backing, except there is on right or wrong face.

Use safety pins to hold these 3 layers together. Space them about 6 inches apart near the edges and space them further apart towards the center of the coverlet.

Sew all around the edges but 10 last inches, make sure the trims is completely to the right of your needle. The seam allowance is usually 1/2 inche.

Now you have the comforter all sewn together at the edges except for the 10 inches that were left open. Check all the seams to maek sure they are even and all the fabric was catched.

Remove all pins and push your hand through the opening between the top layer and the backing and turn the whole thing inside out, pull the corners and edges straight. Now you have the comforter with the shape you want.

Lay the comforter flat on the table or the floor, use aftey pins to stableize the 3 layers together gain one more time. But for this time, all three layers should be seen as where they are supposed to be: the top is on the top, the backing is sandwiched between the top and the back and cannot be seen, the backing is at the bottom, and all the edges are sewn together.

You can either use embridery floss and large needle to tie the conforter by hand or use decorative stiches of your sewing machine to secure the three layers together. I prefer the decorative stiches since it looks prettier more sturdier and it takes less time. Space your securing stiches evenly at about 15 inches apart.

Congrstulation! Your brand new comforter is done!

If you have any questions, please email us at support@coverlet.com