Duvets
If you lived in a time when sheets and blankets were hard to come by and comforters had to be hand made, what would you to do keep yourself warm when you sleep? In the countryside of the mid-eighteenth century of Europe, the solution was to make duvets.
Duvets were used in sets of two, where one was placed directly on the mattress (no sheets or blankets) and the second one was placed on top of the first one with a person sleeping between them. Duvets are like a mattress sized pillow filled with feathers and/or down, and it was put inside a cover like a pillowcase.
Duck feathers or down was used for two reasons. The first is that geese were readily available to get the down and feathers from. The second reason is that down or feathers are really great insulators and in a duvet could keep a person warm and cozy when they slept, even in cold, snowy winter weather.
Some people say that sleeping between two duvets is rather like sleeping inside a very warm and cozy sleeping bag, the kind you would take with you when you go camping. Originally duvets were used in place of sheets and blankets. Today most people put fitted bottom sheets and top sheets on their bed and place a duvet on top. This method works very well to keep you warm while you sleep.
In some small town communities, ladies will get together to have what is called quilting bees. This is where they make quilts sewn by hand. A new trend is for some of these groups to start making homemade duvets.
The inner sack may be made from colorful cotton material and when filled with feathers, down or some synthetic soft insulator material the sack is tacked in patterns to hold the fillers in place. The outer cover is sometimes made like a quilt on one side and a large single piece of cotton or some soft synthetic.
They will take these homemade duvets and offer them for sale in the same places that they sell their quilts. While the quilts still remain very popular, duvets are giving them some solid competition. It is like people are discovering duvets for the first time again.
Duvets are also available in stores and on the Internet, made from a wide variety of materials. These commercially made duvets are often made available in sets and the outer case is made to provide great eye appeal.
When purchasing duvets just be careful to get the correct tog rating (rating on how warm they are) for your area, or the area the person you are giving duvets to as a gift. You don’t want a too warm duvet in a warm climate or a too cool duvet in snow country.
Duvets make excellent house warming gifts and even wedding gifts. May you enjoy the perfect duvet for your bed.
