First, I drew the pattern on the wall with chalk to see if the pattern I had in mind was suitable and to determine the dimensions….
Search Results for: headboard
diy upholstered wingback headboard
This DIY upholstered wingback headboard proved to be a little easier than I thought…not your usual DIY…right?
I finished my headboard over the weekend!
I had to work on it in bits and pieces in between the weekend activities, but it didn’t take as long as I thought it would. It was actually a pretty simple project with very little sewing since there are no cushions. Matter of fact, the only sewing involved was making the welt and sewing the welt onto the front arm panel.
It’s far from perfect, but for my own bedroom it’s exactly what I had in mind. I originally had a brilliant velvet on my heart as my first choice in fabric, but I went with this ivory hemp because I had it on hand and I think it will be the brightness that my dark bedroom needs. Plus, the velvet would have been a small fortune.
The legs were definitely the hardest part to figure out. Next time, if there is a next time, I’ll make the legs slightly different. This was a trial and error, learn as I went kind of project.
The front fabric is 100% hemp fabric I ordered on clearance from BigDuckCanvas.com, and the back fabric is a herringbone burlap, also clearance from the same company.
I used brass tacks to close the sides because I didn’t have any alligator closures and couldn’t wait until Monday to get some.
Once the bed frame is set in place you won’t see the inside wing and the wood that’s exposed at the floor in the picture above nor the stretcher that goes in between the wings in the pic below. I could probably wrap that stretcher in fabric to improve the look but I need to make a box pleat bedskirt to match and want make sure I have enough fabric for that first. It won’t show at all under my bed so I’m not too concerned about it.
I’ll give you a play by play in the next couple days, maybe in two or three parts.
Once it’s in my bedroom and styled I’ll post about that too. I won’t put it into my bedroom until I find a new dresser or night stand for Beast’s side of the bed. Right now his dresser is 48″ tall and so is the headboard, so I certainly can’t have them fighting for attention… right?
This picture was my inspiration and I think I accomplished it.
What do you think?
xoxo
mimzy
diy upholstered wingback headboard part 1
One of the many projects on my master bedroom renovation list is an upholstered wingback headboard. I’ve been researching plans for wingback headboards for years. Ever since my mom a made a wing back headboard for her bed out of a sleeper sofa. She made a slipcover for the sofa and replaced the thin sofa mattress with hers and made it her all the time bed. It looked amazing and I thought it was genius.
I’ve looked at all kinds of plans over the years. I even checked out furniture making books from the library. I wanted simple plans but a slight curve to the wings. So far everything is either too simple and straight lined or just too complicated and above my skill level.
So yesterday when I was in and out of the garage a billion times working on the wall pocket, it occurred to me this wing chair that’s been sitting in my workroom unfinished for six months, would make the perfect headboard!
See… lovely curved wings and graceful arms! Sorry about the lousy picture.
So I schlepped the chair to the driveway and deconstructed it. I only need the wings and arms. One of the best parts about this transformation is that the chair is already padded and it has plenty of cotton and dacron. So I don’t need to buy that stuff. A huge money saver!
I used a sawzall(reciprocating saw) to cut the chair apart. It only took four cuts. I cut out the piece of wood at the top of the chair between the wings.
And I cut right in front of the arm to remove the front legs. Oh….then I made two more cuts to take off the back legs. So six cuts all together. The hardest part of the whole deconstruction process was removing the decking fabric and four staples that held on the seat springs.
That’s the decking fabric and the spring that were the last thing holding the chair together. The deconstruction took a maximum of 20 minutes. No joke.
I had two long 3″ pieces of plywood left over from my closet cabinet that I cut down to 60″ each, because my bed is a queen and that’s the spaced I need between the wings. I used my handy dandy Craig pocket hole bit set to join the pieces of plywood to the wings. That Craig pocket hole bit set is the best and probably cheapest tool investment.
I fastened one piece at the top of the wings and one at the bottom and it’s surprisingly sturdy.
Tomorrow…
- attach legs to bring the whole thing up to bed height.
- jute web or maybe some thin luan to support the center back.
- then on to upholstery….woo hoo!!!
I feel like a kid before Christmas…can’t wait to go to bed so it will be tomorrow faster.
xoxo, Mimz
how to make welt for an upholstered headboard
Today I’m working on an upholstered headboard similar to the picture below. Essentially a box…welt in the front and welt in the back(barely visible but against the wall). My client provided a former cabinet door to use as a frame, since it’s the exact width of a king bed.
This striped headboard is the same box style.
After measuring and cutting the fabric for the body(face) and the banding, I had about 1/2 yard left for the welt(piping). The welt should always be cut on the bias(diagonal grain of the fabric) if possible. This allows the fabricated welt to have the flexibility to go around curves and corners because the bias has stretch. The easiest way to cut fabric on the bias is to fold the cut edge to the selvage edge. The fold is the bias grain of the fabric…meaning 45 degree angle to the straight and cross grain.
I cut welt strips 2 inches, therefore the first cut, on the fold pictured above will only be 1 inch. Then cut every subsequent strip 2 inches.
I use a roller cutter, mat, and a metal ruler to cut my bias strips, but you can certainly use scissors and a fabric pen or chalk.
Notice the cut edge is a 45 degree angle to the selvage edge and the pattern of the fabric.
I need 214 inches to get around the headboard once, so I cut 11 strips because my fabric is about 20 inches wide. Then I proceeded to construct.
I lay the cut bias strips at a 45 degree angle to each other, right sides together as pictured above. Notice the outside corners are hanging over slightly. This will ensure the cut edges will line up after seaming the strips together.
When making welt with fabric like this it’s especially important to make sure the pattern is running in the same direction. Linen, canvas, solids, and such it doesn’t make much difference, but just a tidbit to keep in mind. I once used velvet and didn’t think to match the weft of the fabric on my welt and my upholstery teacher called me out. On welt! That’s a trained eye!
Stitch together the bias strips and then press open the seams.
Make sure to use a small stitch so it won’t gap open.
Then sew the cord into the long bias strip you’ve created. I use a zipper foot on my machine. I have and welt foot but prefer to use a zipper foot. Personal preference.
There you have it…enough welt to to make a king headboard.
The finished headboard is up next. Did that make sense? Comment if you need clarification. I’m planning to do some video tutorials in the near future also.
DIY storage bed with drawers…almost for FREE.
We’re in the process of renovating what used to be my son’s room into a “modern farmhouse style” bedroom for my daughter. Since my girls are both teenagers now, they need their own space, so we moved my son into the guest room and my youngest into his room….
How to Cut and Pin Sofa Slipcover
A sofa slipcover seems like a daunting task, but if you think of it in small steps you can definitely tackle it!
If you’re a beginner I would suggest using an inexpensive fabric or even a drop cloth for your first attempt at slipcover making.
Drape your fabric over the inside back of the sofa and allow the fabric to drape down over the deck(seat of the sofa, under the cushion), and down the front. You may need to seam together two or more widths of fabric to cover the whole inside back and the deck….