ReadyMade: Instructions for everyday life

Start out by washing your shirts and duvet (especially if they’re new or thrifted) to make sure they don’t shrink later on

Cut the shirts apart at the seams (including down the arms) and remove collars, cuffs, pockets, etc., so you end up with five flat swatches of fabric per shirt

Iron out any major wrinkles and give the duvet a quick press as well

Start with the duvet laid out how you’ll be using it (buttons on the bottom or however looks right) and fold it in half horizontally

Fold it this way again (so it’s folded in fourths) and flip it so that the second fourth from the top is facing up

You should be looking at a rectangle of fabric about seven feet long and two feet high. (The exact measurement will vary depending on the size of your duvet.)

Here’s the fun part: Start cutting the shirt fabric into rectangles, squares, or what have you, and lay them out along the rectangle of duvet. You can create your own design or use our template (readymademag.com/duvetquilt), but make sure that when the pieces are laid out, they overlap each other by ½” (this will be your seam allowance). Where the shirt fabric ends on either side of the duvet, leave yourself an inch, just in case things get tight.

Once everything’s laid out and you’re happy with the design, pin the pieces together right side to right side so they’re secured just as you had them

Stitch together the panels and iron open the seams

Lay the completed panel on top of the folded duvet the way you want it. Mark a line on either end piece where it lines up with the edge of the duvet

Using straight pins, mark all around the edges of the panel, pinning only through the duvet fabric. When you remove the panel, you should have its exact outline in pins

Measure in 1” from the pinned outline and use the ruler and pencil to draw a line. You should now have another outline of the panel, this one an inch smaller

Cut along the line you’ve just drawn, un-stitching the duvet at either side where necessary and being careful not to cut through the other layer of duvet. Remove the pins when you’re done and set the extra duvet fabric to the side

Turn the duvet inside out and match up the cut edges with the edges of the shirt panel. Check to see that the lines you drew on the ends of the shirt panel line up with the right and left edges of the duvet (line them up with the old stitching line, not the raw edge). Pin everything together, making sure right sides are meeting right sides and all is aligned

Stitch the panel to the duvet using a ½” seam allowance. If you have trouble getting into some of the corners, just leave them and stitch them by hand at the end

Remove the pins and iron open the seams

Turn the whole thing right-side out and check that everything’s lying flat. Hand-stitch down anything you couldn’t get to, then give the whole thing another press with the iron

Insert a comforter and revel in your cozy accomplishment