Pintuck White Duvet Cover

Hooray I finished my pintuck white duvet cover that I've been wanting to make for a long time.  White just seems like the right color for our apartment in Florida.  With how hot it is outside, it is refreshing to come inside to clean white and the light blues from the pillows.    This was a project well worth the money saved.  I found a similar duvet cover at Target for $70 (and that was Target- other places were more expensive).  But all you need for this project is 2 flat bed sheets - around $10 each.  I have a queen size duvet, but I bought 1 king size flat sheet for the top and 1 queen size flat sheet for the bottom.  I did this since the pintucks gather a bit and I didn't want the top sheet to end up being too small.  I probably did not need to do this in the end, but it did help not having to worry about how much I gathered with the pintucks.
Take the top sheet and mark off every 18 inches (if you want more pintucks mark off with fewer inches)

I used a box we had left over from the move as a giant ruler and that helped me be more precise as I worked my way across the sheet.
Gather the fabric around each mark and make a swirl.
Pinning each swirl helps to keep the fabric even.
With a needle, come from the back side through the middle of the swirl.
Thread back and forth about 10x or until the knot feels tight and stable.  Then tie it off on the backside.   Continue along each mark until finished.
Each pintuck gives an X shaped wrinkle to the fabric. To preserve this wrinkle on the edges, I pinned the wrinkle down (above picture) before sewing the two sheets together.  
A few helpful things to remember when sewing the sheets together:

• Pin like crazy! - there is a lot of fabric here and it would be easy to accidently sew over the wrong part - I did :(
• Most duvet covers have little ties on the corners of the inside, now would be a good time to sew those in if desired
• Leave an opening at the top and then you can either close it with buttons, ties, or Velcro

The finished product!
I made a decorative pillow the same way.

I have an idea for some decorating to go above the bed - that, plus another dress are my next projects :)