This weekend we expected to be snow bound; warm, cozy, tucked. Instead, we got what could only be exaggerated as a “dusting”. It was a bit of a let down. Determined to make productive use of the weekend, I took the opportunity to do a few quick projects around the house. The headboard wasn’t one of them.
There were grand plans of finishing the upholstered headboard. You know ~ the one I’ve had in the works since September and shared a sneak peek of 2 weeks ago? Yeah. That one. Funny… it’s also the very same headboard that I ripped out tufts to start over because I didn’t like how it was coming out. I don’t think I mentioned that part yet…
Yeah. I’m starting over {with the tufting part} and could really use some lessons. If you’re an upholsterer, I’d LOVE to hear from you because these diamond tufts just.aren’t.working. I get the concept. I see what it’s supposed to look like in my head {and in pictures on blogs & websites} but my tufts are just coming out flat.
It’s supposed to look curvy & full. The tufts are supposed to be tight. Mine is looking flat & blousy. The fabric goes flat across the foam, makes a 90 degree turn down into the hole where the button goes, and comes straight back out. Where’s the taughtness?! My beautifully covered buttons peeking out from valley in the foam??
So the project sits. In pieces in what will eventually be the guest room until I can muster the courage to tackle it one more time. I’ve poured over the few tutorials I’ve found online but am disappointed there’s not a more comprehensive tutorial. A video would be ideal but YouTube has only turned up one, semi-useful clip {that magically skips from pulling the button through to everything being tight & wonderful}. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t frustrated.
This one is a little more informative. Maybe my foam {3″} is too thick. That would stink.
The weekend wasn’t completely unproductive. Other {easier} projects were tackled. Homework for my grad class was done.
There’s always next weekend to get back on the horse. If you want to be my upholstery mentor, I’d love to hear from you.
brickcitylove.com 
i was really hoping that your headboard was working! the picture looked so good! the only tufting i’ve done was on my mom’s headboard (http://five2eight.blogspot.com/2009/12/diy-headboard.html) which looks fine, but i really wanted to see how you did yours before deciding how to make mine. the one i helped my mom with looks kind of flat to me. but she also only used thin foam on a piece of mdf, i think that i’m going to actually make a thicker box to upholster to give it more depth. i reupholstered a chair once that had tufting, but the fabric was also tight across the back so the buttons were more of an accent. good luck!
I am so bummed! That teaser pic looks beautiful. I can’t imagine how frustrating that is for you. Hopefully this time will work much better. I really, really want to see how it comes out!
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I’m wondering if you need to add a layer of something puffy over your foam to help make more contour to your puff – then don’t pull the buttons so far down. Think the only solution to this is more experimentation, ie, trail and error! So far you’ve only made 1 error……..!
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