Iron Craft Challenge #7 – Headboard Slipcover

For this Iron Craft challenge we are freshening up something in our home for spring…

When Matt and I moved into our house we had a hard time finding a bed with a headboard that would fit beneath the eaves of our attic bedroom. We did end up finding the perfect on at IKEA. Matt especially like the fact the headboard was upholstered which made it comfortable to lean against for reading and such. Unfortunately, the ecru upholstery didn’t look good for long, especially on Matt’s said of the bed.

I was warned when we bought it to be careful washing it, because apparently it would shrink badly. Dyeing it seemed like a bigger task (with unsure results) than I wanted to get in to. So, a slipcover seemed like the way to go.

It was tricky to find a fabric with the pattern going the right direction within the basic apparel and quilting fabrics. But once we got into the upholstery fabrics there was lots of chose from. They are a little pricey, but thanks to a sale price and a coupon it ended up being quite reasonable. We even found a fabric with the perfect blue tones.

What an improvement!

It was pretty simple to make too. I just bought enough fabric to cover the headboard width-wise with a little extra for seam allowance, for my queen-sized bed that was a yard and a half. I folded the fabric in half and seamed up both sides so it was a snug fit over the headboard.

I slipped it on and pinned it up for the hem.

After that it was just a matter of making gussets at the top corners. These are made by measuring the depth of the headboard and then creating triangles at each corner where the bottom of the triangle equals that width. (Here is another good example of sewing a gusset.)

It takes a little work to slide the slipcover on, but once on it is the perfect fit and makes for a much nicer looking bedroom.