How hard to make a duvet cover/pillowcases?

Well, I have been on a quest to find lovely bedding for our new place and I have not been madly in love with anything. I went to the decorating showroom where I had picked out fabrics for LR treatments and saw some other fabric that I LOVE! I can easily have the window guy make cornices but how tough would it be to make/get made pillow cases and a duvet cover for a queen size bed?
I am not handly AT ALL but even on decorating shows and in magazines it seems so easy -- connect two squares. Am I kidding myself?

Re: How hard to make a duvet cover/pillowcases?

My mother makes her own and I was actually thinking of doing the same. It's so much cheaper. She basically sews two flat sheets together to make the duvet cover or picks out her own material from the fabric store.

Why not take a sewing class at your local highschool or or see what your town offers. I know my town has some sewing classes available but I live in NJ. I was thinking a sewing class might be a good investment!!

Re: How hard to make a duvet cover/pillowcases?

I was going to suggest the sheet method too. I have never done it but it looks really easy. And you can get creative- pick two coordinating prints or a solid and a print. Lots of places sell nice sheets at good prices.

Re: How hard to make a duvet cover/pillowcases?

i never thought of this before ut what a great idea....i want to make one too now!

Re: How hard to make a duvet cover/pillowcases?

Well, one thing as a head's up, the fabric store fellow told me you do need a good amount of fabric -- about 6 yards per side so make sure you have enough. I am going to a heavily discounted fabric outlet so I am paying $18.50 a yard for heavy silk which I think is a steal.

Re: How hard to make a duvet cover/pillowcases?

I made my own duvet cover a few years ago from 2 flat sheets and it looked really nice and wasn't too hard at all. The only problem I found was that on 'real' covers, the opening is not at the very bottom - like, with the one I made out of sheets, I basically sewed the two sheets on 3 sides and then sewed snaps to close at the bottom. This causes a problem becase the comfortor shifts downwards and starts to try and slip ot the bottom, whereas with the real one, there is sort of a 'fold' at the bottom on the underside so that it can't really slip out. But otherwise, using the sheets it was REALLY easy.

Re: How hard to make a duvet cover/pillowcases?

Follow up:
We actually wanted to use this gorgeous silk fabric that I found for the window treatments, Plum and ivory stripe -- classic but not too feminine, so I am having the window guy who is making our window treatments also create the shams and duvets. The material was about $200 --but keep in mind that this is top quality silk; I paid $18 ish a yard and it retails for nearly one hundred and his labor is another $500 -- so a bit much but it is perfect and ties together the room really nicely.