Decorating your child’s room can be a huge expense. Just paint, wall decor, and furniture eat up a big part of your budget. Then there’s the comforter set, chosen around your child’s current tastes (which can change any minute from hearts to polka dots to camouflage to Star Wars). You can sometimes find comforters on special, but they tend to be low quality and thin. Why not save yourself money and make a DIY sheet quilt instead?
I turned to the DIY sheet quilt a few years back when I wanted to create a shared room for my kids with horses and transportation themes. I could find affordable sheets and make a quality comforter for half the cost (or more), saving money to put toward other decorations. This also allowed me to adjust the warmth and thickness of my kid’s comforters, depending on the batting I selected.
The DIY Sheet quilt only requires basic sewing skills and the biggest requirements are time and space for putting it together. A simple twin sheet comforter can be made in just a couple of nights, depending on how long it takes you to tie it together. I like to tie while I watch my favorite shows. If you skip the batting and add in some buttons, you can also make this into a duvet cover!
Easy DIY Sheet Quilt
Materials
2 Flat Sheets (I recommend finding two sheets of the same material. This can be one patterned sheet and one solid sheet for the back).
Matching Thread
1 Skein of Quality Yarn in coordinating colors
Quality Batting
Optional: Buttons to add some fun with ties.
(If you want to make a duvet cover, skip the quilting needle and yarn. Add buttons and button holes to the opening instead)
Instructions
- Take your two flat sheets and lay them right sides together.
- Pin sides together. If one sheet is larger (this happens with different brands), pin and trim off excess fabric.
- Sew three sides of the sheets (top and 2 long sides) closed using a 1/4 inch stitch.
- Sew the bottom 3/4 of the way closed and leave an opening to flip to right sides.
- Trim all loose threads.
- Lay out sheets wrong side out again and lay batting on top. Trim off any excess batting.
- Using the bottom opening, flip the sheets right side out, keeping the batting layer in between.
- Reach in and push the corners out with your finger or closed scissors.
- Pull the batting to the edges and safety pin to the corners to keep in place.
- Lay the comforter flat again and select evenly-spaced spots to tie the comforter together. Add safety pins in each one of these spots as place holders.
- Take your yarn and needle and cut evenly sized strips of yarn. The length will depend on how long you want your strands to be after you are finished tying.
- Remove your safety pin and put your yarn down from the top side of the quilt, then back up next to it. Take the yarn off of your needle and tie the two ends together. Trim if too long. Repeat until all knots are tied.
- Sew the opening of the quilt together by hand.
Quick Tips
- Use the same material/brand of sheets if you can. I learned the hard way that sheets are not uniformly sized, which can make the project tricky.
- Consider upcyling sheets from garage sales and consignment shops. This is a great way to get affordable character fabric!
- Speckled and multi-colored yarns are a fun choice.
- If you want to make a duvet cover, skip the batting. Sew the top and sides and leave the bottom open. Add evenly spaced button holes and buttons, then use with your duvet.
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