Headboard Finished!

How to make an uphostered headboard continued..

Once the whole board is covered in the fabric you want, and you have your holes drilled out, I used buttons (thanks Rachel Anderson for the idea!) to hold the covered buttons in place.  I used very thick embroidery thread and double threaded the needle. Feed you embroidery needle (the longer the better) through the back to the front, put your covered button on, then thread the needle back though (this can be the hardest part!). Once you have both sides of the thread though the hole in the back, thread both through the button and tie a few knots. Then it's secure!

Close view. Since there were really 4 threads I was using, I tied 2 knots regularly, then split the threads up and tied each individually.

View from the front. In order to get depth, I would push on the button from the front while securing it in the back. 

Once all the buttons are on, it should look something like this. You could stop here (and skip to the end) if the tufted look is all you wanted. However, I wanted to also add sides to the headboard. :)

So, with my leftover plywood, I measured out the look I wanted, then cut 2 of the same shape with a circular saw. You can use a hand saw, but that would be much harder! :) 

I partially covered them with batting (because of the way I am attaching these, you can't cover them completely at first...)

I then ironed and layed out my lining fabric and linen (or whatever fabric you used for the main piece), and wrapped the end cap in it. I stapled only the inner side secure. Covering the top was probably the most tricky. I opted to make folds in the fabric instead of trying to sew a perfectly measure 'slipcover'. I didn't take a photo of this part, but I secure the top piece of fabric first- stright back. Then I just held the side fabric out, tucked (pushed) down the fabric at the top, and kept playing with it until the fold was perfectly straight across the top of the side piece. I hope that makes sense! 

I then used 'L' brackets on the uncovered half of the end cap and secured  it to the main headboard. I liked this way because I wouldn't be making holes in the side of the main piece in case I ever wanted to take the sides off. The 'L' feature also secures the side pieces from spreading outward.

I put 4 of them on each side 

I then finished wrapping the lining and linen pieces and secured them to the back of the main board with staples, making sure to keep the side smooth.

After all the stapling, you can't even see the L brackets which I love! 

The view from the front 

Do the same thing with the other side and you are almost done!  (If you don't want the side pieces, you can skip straight to this part.)  I used 2 layers of the same sheet I used for the lining earlier. I ironed it smooth and tucked in the sides of the unfinished edges and ironed those as well to fit the size of the back of the board. 

Then staple the entire fabric over the back, covering all your unfinished enges, staples, ets. 

All that's left is attaching it to the headboard. At Lowes, I just bought one 8' 1 by 4 (they are like 3-4 bucks) and had them cut it in half. Here, I have primed and painted it white (so it will blend in with my wainscotting that will eventually be behind it)... 

I used flat ended screws (not sure of the technical term?) and nuts and bolts to secure the 1 by 4 to the end of the metal frame of the bed. 

TIP:  Definately used wood screws to secure the 1 by 4's to the plywood. A first I tried other screws we had and didn't realize how big of a differece wood screws make!  This photo didn't come out to well, but after making sure the headboard was level, I used 4 wood screws on each side to secure it to the back of the headboard.

And there you have it! 

I absolutely love it! Definately take your time to do this project right, and it will come out SO wonderful!