Reader Space - Megan's Tufted Headboard Tutorial

I love tufting (If you haven't noticed from my Pinterest boards). I love the look of it, the feel of it, pretty much everything about it. But I have yet to attempt any tufting myself. The whole process seems way to complicated.


However, when Megan from Miss Madison's Charmed Life e-mailed me her fabulous tufted headboard to tutorial, I had to read through it twice. No way it could be that easy? Check it out!

{The following is in Megan's on words}

I've been teasing my Facebook friends for days now about my new headboard, well the wait it over :) I've been DYING for a new bed, but it took awhile to wear down my husband in to agreeing! This is what we had before...

Nothing was wrong with it, I just wanted something more ME.  

Here are the cast of characters {as Pioneer Women would say}

1/2 inch plywood {4x8 sheet from Lowe's}

2 inch foam {EXPENSIVE take a coupon!}

3 yards of fabric {heavy upholstery fabric works best}

buttons {I opted for Rhinestone buttons}

Long upholstery needle and thread

batting

I made a king size headboard and had my handy neighbor cut out the shape for me. {Thanks A!}

Mark where you want your tufts, wish I could give you a good way to do it, but every headboard is different and you just have to eyeball and measure until you want to scream :) Then drill holes {I used a 5\32 drill bit}

I decided to add legs, they aren't for support but just to make the fabric go to the floor I think it looks more professional. 

Next lay the wood on the foam and cut out your shape. I used a utility knife, but I would recommend buying\borrowing a electric knife it will cut more smoothly.

Spray Adhesive! Some say this step is not necessary, but after all this work better safe than sorry!

Use that stuff outdoors and with a mask it's super toxic :)

Wrap and staple your batting.

Ok, TUFTING! I picked a crushed velvet fabric, they had sooooo many pretty prints but I'm not trying to kill myself getting it on straight plus because of the size of the headboard {78 wide x 68 high} the fabric had to go on sideways or you would have a seam. {my fabric was 54 inches wide} To get a nice deep tuft I threaded the needle and thread through the drilled holes through the button and back down, next I pushed the button all the way down and my super awesome husband tied it off really tight with some washers on the back.

I didn't staple my fabric on until I finished tufting because you don't want the fabric too tight or else they won't go deep enough.

The washers where we wrapped and tied off the thread.

Staple and staple and staple your fabric on until your hand hurts :)

So much better! I just love how glamorous it is!

Those rhinestone buttons on that crushed velvet make me so dang happy :)

I hung the headboard with a French Cleat {from any home improvement store}

See how it reached the floor? 

I have to say I was a little scared to do this project, but I'm so glad I did! I love it more than anything I could have purchased and I'm pretty proud of how amazing I think it turned out!

If you have any questions just leave me a comment I'm happy to answer them!

 Click on over to Miss Madison's Charmed Life to check out her other great projects