Before I made this tufted headboard I read a million tutorials about it! After reading Jen’s tutorial about her new way of tufting, I had to give it a try. Instead of drilling marking and stringing every individual button, which I found out is very time consuming, drill a washer and screw into the plywood backing of the head board! Here is an easy way of getting that tufted headboard look in literally an hour! I’m really pleased with how it turned out!
Here’s how to get a tufted headboard in less than an hour!
First, Cut out your shape, use a large piece of cardboard, only draw one side of your desired shape. Trace the half piece of cardboard into 3/4″ plywood. Flip the cardboard over and trace the other half of the shape, this will make sure that you have 2 even sides.
Second, add padding, I prefer the $15 egg crate foam, lay your foam onto the plywood and cut the foam to the shape of the headboard. The foam should be about 3″ tall from the plywood. Place the fabric over the foam. Gently mark the fabric with a pencil or needle for the spacing of the buttons, mine are 6 3/4″ apart. This will determine exactly how your end project will look. 🙂
Third, now the fun part, grab 3/4″ screws and a box of washer, place the washer inside of the screw, push the screw into the fabric and push the screw hard into the backside of the plywood. Repeat this step where all “buttons” are marked. To make the buttons that match your headboard fabric, use this kit. Once you’ve followed the kit instructions and made the buttons, glue the button where the screws and washer are drilled into the board. Hot glue works great for this step!
Fourth, Pull the fabric around the corners and staple them with a hand stapler, make sure to pull tight, and look for uneven spots! If there are uneven spots, either try to pull the fabric tight or adjust the padding as needed.
Tip: If you have a sheer fabric, I recommend also adding white quilt batting over the foam, this way the yellow-ish foam won’t show through the fabric.
