A beautiful bedroom; notice the ties on the duvet which is folded on the foot of the bed.
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This basic duvet cover really is a giant pillow case. First stitch the front middle and side panels together, right sides facing, with a ½” seam, as shown in the diagram in part I of this article. Then stitch the back middle and side pieces together, right sides facing, with a ½ ” seam as shown in the diagram. Press seams flat. There is no need to finish them, unless your fabric ravels very easily; most fabric used for duvets will not do this.

Now put your finished front and back together, right sides facing. Stitch with a ½” seam, leaving the bottom open. There are many ways to finish the bottom of a duvet cover and many ways to close it. For this basic duvet, make a 1” finished hem. Apply industrial strength Velcro on the inside. Alternatively, you can make buttonholes and button the duvet shut or you can attach ties made out of narrowly hemmed strips of fabric and tie the duvet shut. Zipper closings are also nice, but require facings and take more time and skill to insert.