Our first trip to Europe converted me a long time ago. The average household there does not use a top sheet the way we do, but the duvet cover takes its place. It always 2 flat sheets sewn together. We keep our house cool at night, so we do the same here. No tangled sheets in the morning, just fluff the comforter out. Here is the most common type of cover that I see there. Take 2 flat sheets, sew them together like a huge pillow case, but leave 2 slits in the sides close to the top. It allows you to reach in and pull the duvet up to the corners. The bottom is usually several inches longer than the duvet, but we have a footboard that allows that to just "hang". The other opttion is to trim it and button/velcro the bottoms.

Oh you creative folks! I've been up since 5, away since 6 today, JUST got back--had an AMAZING day and am as proud as I can possibly be of DD...I may post about it in discussions--but I just want to say I'll read these as soon as my brain can function again--I'm so completely fried right now I'm going to sit and watch The Birds as a nice nightcap before an early bedtime...yeah, we're a bit odd sometimes :) but THANKS so much for the suggestions! I will actually have extra fabric from cutting the drapes off; I was going to make another big bolster from them--I might as well make the duvet cover decorations from them too! Brilliant idea. I just hope the fabric, which is somewhat ravelly, will hold on the edges long enough for me to get it down. The other thing that might militate against this is that I want to be able to use it with another pair of drapes, so I was hoping not to have a *too* specific design on them (a side thought I didn't put down in the original post). Maybe I'm hoping to have that duvet serve too many purposes and I should let it be specific. But I also love that single or at most double-tone silhouette look on modern bedding now. I will think about this when my brain is back in my head. I give huge (but gentle) cougar hugs to you all for your ideas :) (the "cougar" is a little clue as to what happened today :))

eBay occasionally has large French Linen sheets hand loomed from the 30's and earlier which take dyes nicely. There are LOTS of damask tablecloths and many are unused. Larger sizes are a bit harder to find but the fabrics are gorgeous! Plenty of damask linen napkins in extra large sizes are available as well. Of course, eBay also has new flat queen sized sheets. It's my favorite place to shop! Grins

Springmaid also made 100% cotton percale USA made. Yes they needed ironed. I do not like cotton/poly blends. They may not need ironed but they don't feel the same as the old USA made cotton sheets. Its my experience that the cotton poly blend sheets in todays market can be found on the cheap everywhere and frankly I wouldn't want them for any price. They feel like the synthetic they are made of, they hold soil and odors, and they pill. Was yesteryears like this? I've always used all cotton, but I iron mine and have no problem ironing. I would be the last to complain about cotton wrinkling LOL. Of course it wrinkles. This is why grandma and mom took them off the line and ironed them.