Monthly Archives: January 2021

What do Venus Williams, Morrissey and Ariana Grande all have in common? They are all passionate Vegans, and this month, over 500,000 people pledged to go vegan. That’s an extra 100,000 from last year!

Deliveroo’s vegan orders spiked by 163% in 2020 and over 7.2 million Brits alone enjoy a meat free diet. Even the big fast-food brands are offering vegan alternatives to attract the new customers, Greggs vegan sausage roll anyone?

But being a Vegan isn’t all about facon, oat milk and the search for the perfect vegan cheese. It’s a lifestyle choice that many people embrace. It’s discovering lifestyle alternatives for everyday things like make-up, clothing, homeware and adapting your life to this new way of thinking and being. 

At Devon Duvets we are very proud of our luxurious, soft award-winning Botanic range of duvets, made from a 100% plant based filling and casing. What’s more, it’s the only duvet of its type to have been Registered by the Vegan Society.

One of our co-founders, Pauline, says: “There’s a lot of people talking about sustainability but we really, really want to support that, sustainability is, in our view, the way forward in the world and this is why we continually look at how we source our materials and the type of materials that we source.

For example, for our Botanic duvet, we wanted a product that would be 100% plant-based but was also responsibly sourced, so the Botanic collection is actually made out of wood from FSC forests and an ECO award-winning process is used to turn it into the beautiful fibre that we use in our duvets.”

So whether you are Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Flexitarian, or are just taking steps to make small changes to help the planet…it’s good to know we are all doing our bit.

If you want to know more about our Botanic duvet range then do get in touch and we’ll be happy to help.

We’d like to take you behind the scenes at Devon Duvets to give you a glimpse of the love and care that goes into each step of handcrafting our award-winning certified 100% British wool duvets.

Firstly, our talented seamstresses cut the 100% natural cotton fabric required for the duvet casing, to the customer’s specific requirements. This could be for a duvet for one of our standard UK or EU sizes or could be a bespoke size for a custom-sized bed, campervan or berth in a yacht. This is still done in the traditional way, using a measuring table and classic dressmaking scissors that are specially sharpened to ensure accuracy and straight lines, and ensures the cotton is not stretched out of shape or torn. Two matching sized pieces of cut cotton fabric are required per duvet casing.

Next comes the wool – certified 100% British wool, purchased from British farmers. The wool is cleaned in British mills, without the use of chemicals or bleach, and then needled to our exacting specifications to create soft layers with plenty of ‘loft’. The wool arrives at our Devon workshops from the mill in large rolls and so, again, the amount of wool needed for each duvet is measured by hand, carefully cut and then encased inside the cotton fabric, taking great care not to stretch the wool but still ensure there are no areas of the duvet that do not contain the soft woolly filling. Although this is more time consuming, we do it to ensure we create a duvet with a beautiful drape that will wrap around your body for a luxurious slumber.

The wool layers are then stitched inside the casing, making sure that when you are tucked under your duvet, the wool will always stay nicely in place and so there is no need for shaking the duvet when you make your bed. This is also a time consuming and delicate process and includes ‘overlocking’, done by specialist seamstresses in our team. They use an overlocker sewing machine that stitches the edges whilst trimming at the same time

Are you finding it harder to get up and go in the mornings? It’s not just you, we do too!

Those dark winter mornings are the real culprit behind your morning struggles, along with a bit of science…

The sleep hormone, Melatonin, stops being produced when the early morning sun rises. However, in winter, we’re not exposed to sunlight as quickly due to the darker mornings. This means our bodies continue to produce Melatonin for longer, making us feel extra sluggish when our alarm clocks sound. You can purchase a ‘light’ alarm clock (also known as sunrise clocks) to help resolve this, as they slowly emit light prior to your alarm, to ease you into wakefulness.

The reduced amount of sunlight in the winter also has a knock-on effect to your health, as our bodies are receiving less Vitamin D. If we don’t get enough Vitamin D, it can cause us to feel tired and irritable, so it may be worth taking some supplements during the winter months to help combat this.

Colder temperatures are another thing that keeps us from getting out of bed with more gusto in the winter mornings. We all know how difficult it is to leave the warm and snuggly sensation of your duvet, especially if your bedroom is particularly cold. A solution to this is to have your heating on a timer so that it fires up shortly before you wake, ensuring a nice warm temperature for when you get out of bed.

Finding the nights too cold or too hot can lead to less restful sleep, causing you to feel even more tired on top of the seasonal waking worries you already have. That’s why our certified 100% British wool duvets are the perfect choice to keep you snuggly this winter. Their temperature regulating and breathable qualities will work with your body temperature and help you to get a better night’s sleep, making it easier to get out of bed in the morning!

Find out more about our award-winning 100% British wool duvets on our website.