Duvet day

A wet and wild weekend, in which the kitchen skylight gave way and emptied a waterfall over the welsh dresser and new cooker. Grrr. And the front door lock has dislocated itself (nobody admits slamming it) so won’t close properly. Grr some more. I love my house I really do!

But in between mopping activities, I made a duvet cover for grandma’s visit!

Two pure cotton “vintage” sheets from Ebay were washed to remove an enormous amount of starch – with extra rinses to clean out the machine afterwards. Then some research in my daughter’s book collection. We both love Lauren Child’s illustration style, so I decided to use this as the basis for some appliqué. Scraps of Liberty print from my two Millie tops, plus the leftovers from my Clothkits skirt lining made a little flurry of butterfly / moth / hearts, plus one dragonflyesque butterfly and a doily flower.

It took a lot longer than I expected, especially as my sewing machine didn’t like sewing densely woven cotton onto loosely woven cotton: lots of feed-dog jamming incidents. But I like the overall effect. Then sewed the two sheets together, removing an 8-inch border at the top and both sides to make a duvet-sized envelope. A mixture of odd red vintage buttons from the button box to fasten the bottom. Some very uneven buttonholes – especially the one where the quick-unpick slipped… but they are strong and functional.

Overall, I am very happy with the finished item.