Every time that I pictured Bella's bed in her new room I saw an ultra girly, floral, vintagey, pouffy bed. I wanted it to feel soft and safe and to engulf her. And to achieve that I knew that the most important part was a floral, faded, vintage inspired comforter, similar to one that I used to love to sleep under at my grandparents house when I was a child (albeit a rare occurance).
Until recently I only had a vague image in my head of how I wanted the comforter look. Ironicly enough, the original one was both mauve and backed in satin - two things that would ordinarly mean that I didn't like it. So I haven't had a definate image to work from. But faded and floral were absolutes.
Which was why I was so pleased when I was in York's Cath Kidston shop a couple of weeks ago and not only saw this pink floral /paisley print, which was perfect for the top of the comforter, but also saw that it was in the sale.
I generally feel that their cotton duck is a little too rough to the touch, so I don't use much of it (apart from when it's in the sale), but this particular fabric is really soft and feels almost warm to the touch (have you seen that they've released a number of prints in a cheaper (softer) quilters cotton?).
To make the actual comforter I bought a £3.50 lightweight quilt from Ikea for the inner (normal quilt batting isn't pouffy enough), which I cut slightly smaller in width to take in to account the fact that whilst Bella's bed is a standard single length it's slightly narrower .
I then layed the backing fabric (I chose to use Amy Butler's quilters solid in Celery) on the floor, face up. Then the quilt top fabric on it, face down and finally the quilt inner on top and pinned it all together.
I then sewed through all three layers, around three and a half sides with a 1/4 inch seam, leaving an opening to turn it right side out. After flipping it right side out I hand sewed the opening closed and then quilted across the width of the quilt in straight lines, about 10 inches apart.
It took no time at all (except quilting through the three layers - it's really necessary to make sure that you use a strong enough needle) and has turned out exactly how I wanted it to.
And best of all, Bella ( who can often be a little non-plussed about her quilts) loves it too. The fact that it billows and pouffs and engulfs her creates exactly the sort of feeling for her that I was hoping for.
And after also replacing her mattress with a much more comfortable sprung one I'm finally happy that she has a proper snuggly, comfortable bed.
(the comforter is on top of her new duvet set - the lighter floral print).
