How to Sew a Comforter

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Coordinating your bedroom's décor is easy when you do it yourself. Sewing your own custom-fitted comforter in an upholstery fabric of your choosing ensures your comforter matches the curtains, upholstery and other fabric pieces in your bedroom. This project features as part of our 1987 Airstream Argosy Renovation series, but you can use these techniques to sew a comforter for any size mattress. Let's get started!
Video Chapters:
  • Measuring Your Mattress — 0:50 min.
  • Increasing Batting Width — 1:32 min.
  • Increasing Lining Fabric Width — 3:02 min.
  • Increasing Decorative Fabric Width — 4:51 min.
  • Pattern Matching — 6:31 min.
  • Sewing Decorative Fabric Panels Together — 13:33 min.
  • Cutting Decorative Fabric to Size — 18:57 min.
  • Pinning Batting, Lining & Decorative Fabric — 19:41 min.
  • Sewing Assemblies Together — 23:08 min.
  • Turning Right Side Out & Closing End — 25:30 min.
  • Tacking the Comforter Layers — 28:49 min.
  • Materials & Tools List — 34:04 min.
Materials List:
  • Polyester Batting White 55" .30" Loft #122182
  • Coats Extra Strong® Tex 70 White Nylon Upholstery Thread (150 yds.) #104812
  • Drapery Lining White 54” Fabric #122511
  • Decor & Upholstery Fabric from Sailrite 
  • Coats Extra Strong® Tex 70 Black Nylon Upholstery Thread (150 yds.) #104813
Tools List:
  • Gingher® 8" Scissors Right Handed #19104
  • Wonder Clips Assorted Colors (50 pack) #121902
  • Sailrite® Ultrafeed® LSZ Walking Foot Sewing Machine #311602
  • Sailrite® Ultrafeed® Industrial Sewing Table #120934
  • Magic Chalk Liner White #122803
  • Forked Magic Pins 1‑3/4" (30 pack) #122801
  • Clear Acrylic Ruler 6" x 24" #102400
  • Multiuse Pins 1‑1/2" (250 pack) #102985
  • Deluxe 5 1/2" Magnetic Sewing Guide #103597
How to Sew Comforter 2

RV mattresses tend to be irregular in size, so taking careful, accurate measurements is an important first step. Determine how far down you want your comforter to hang over the edge of your mattress and add it to your overall dimensions. This will guide how much fabric and batting you need for your comforter. We went with a thin, lightweight polyester batting to fill our comforter. If you want a thicker blanket, you can use a double layer of batting, or use a heavier weight of batting.

How to Sew Comforter 3
Home sweet home on the road!

The trickiest part of our comforter was lining up our pattern to create a continuous piece of fabric that met our desired width. We chose to join three pieces together to avoid having a seam run down the center of the comforter. This is a good choice even if your fabric isn’t patterned; it creates a cleaner look for the overall comforter. Our video will show you how to measure and account for the extra seam allowances so your finished comforter is the correct size. If you’re using a patterned fabric, we’ll also show you how to match the pattern on each piece to minimize waste.

As a final step, we tacked our comforter assembly together using a zigzag stitch. This helps keep all the layers in place whenever the comforter is moved, folded or washed. You could also quilt your comforter for your desired look.

If you want to view more projects in our RV Renovation Series, click here