How to Build a Button Tuck Upholstery Headboard

A DIY upholstery headboard goes a step further when you use buttons to tuck the foam and fabric close to the wood base, making tufts. The result is a rich-looking, custom headboard that a home crafter can manage with minimal skills. Choose upholstery fabric for a long-lasting headboard, but thinner quilting cotton can be used as well if it coordinates better with the decor in your bedroom.

Things You'll Need

• Particleboard or plywood
• Jigsaw
• Measuring tape
• Cardboard for template
• 2-inch foam
• Electric knife
• Glue gun
• Glue sticks
• Quilt batting
• Upholstery fabric
• Upholstery thread
• Large needle
• Flat buttons
• Shank buttons for tufting

Instructions

1. Measure the width of your mattress. Cut a piece of plywood or particleboard so it's 48 inches long and the width of your mattress. Plywood and particleboard generally comes in 48-inch-wide sheets, so only one cut should be required. The lumberyard may be able to make this cut for you, or use a jigsaw. This is the base for your headboard.

2. Mark holes on the back of the headboard where you want button tufts to go. One way to get even holes is to cut a 6-inch square of cardboard to use as a template. Set the square in the top right corner of the headboard and mark the left side corners. Move the template so the right side corners line up with the marks you just made and mark the left corners again. Continue across, then bring the template down so the top corners line up with the bottom marks from the row above and make a third row by marking the bottom corners of the template. Drill holes through all of these marks.

3. Cut a piece of 2-inch foam that's 24 inches tall and the width of your headboard. An electric knife works well for cutting foam. Use hot glue to attach the foam to the top half of the headboard. Your headboard now has foam covering the first 24 inches, and 24 inches below that is uncovered. The bottom half will fit under your mattress and be hidden.

4. Cut a piece of quilt batting that is 6 inches longer and wider than the measurements of the foam. Lay the batting on a work surface. Place the headboard over it so the foam is centered on the batting. Pull the batting around to the back at the top and sides and staple it to the board. Turn the headboard over, and staple the bottom edge of the batting just under the bottom edge of the foam. Trim the excess batting from the bottom edge, leaving 1 inch.

5. Cut a piece of upholstery fabric to the same dimensions as the quilt batting. Lay the fabric right side down on a work surface and center the foam over it. Pull the fabric edges around to the back and staple them in place on the sides and top. For the best results, staple in the center of each side, then work toward the corners. Turn the headboard over, and staple the bottom of the fabric just under the foam. Press the staple gun against the foam so the staples are slightly under the foam. Trim the bottom fabric to 1 inch.

6. Thread a large needle with upholstery thread. Tie a knot in the end, and pull the needle through a hole in a flat plastic button. Next, thread the needle through the first hole in the back of the headboard and through the foam to the front of the headboard. Thread the needle through a tufting button and back through the foam and the same hole in the headboard, then through another hole in the flat button. Repeat this procedure, sewing through both buttons two or three more times, then tie off. Repeat this step with more buttons for each hole you drilled. Pull each tufted button tight so it depresses the foam, making a tuft.

References

• Apartment Therapy; How To: DIY Tufted Headboard; Janel Laban; February 2009
• Green Your Decor; Upholstered, Tufted Headboard Tutorial; March 2010
• Be Jane: Make Your Own Upholstered Headboard