How to Customize a Headboard Slipcover

Take your holiday decor into the bedroom with these step-by-step instructions for sewing a holiday headboard slipcover.

Filed under: Slipcovers, Headboard, Beds, Furniture, How To, Holiday, Christmas

Invite the Christmas spirit into the bedroom in the form of a spirited slipcover for your headboard. Here's how to make one yourself:

Materials and Tools:

red velvet
red cotton canvas
braided piping
scissors
tape measure
tailor's chalk

Steps:

1. Measure the height, width and depth of the headboard. Cut the velvet so the width equals the width of the headboard plus 5/8-inch for seam allowance and 2 inches for the hem. Cut the length so it equals the height of the headboard plus 1¼ inches for the seam allowance (5/8-inch on both sides).

2. Make a mark on the back of the velvet to note the top and the bottom. The top is determined by the nap of the velvet. The nap should go up to the top - when you run your hand along the selvage, it should be smooth.

3. Cut the canvas so the width is that of the velvet plus the depth of the headboard. Cut the length of the canvas so the length is that of the velvet plus twice the depth of the headboard.

4. To make the mitered corners of the slipcover, fold the canvas into a large triangle and mark the 5/8-inch seam allowance and the depth of the headboard (two parallel lines), along with a perpendicular line from the fold. Sew along the perpendicular line and cut the excess off. Repeat on the other end.

5. Pin the cording to the right side of the velvet along the two sides and the top, leaving an extra half-inch on either end. Sew it in place using a zipper foot.

6. Pin the cotton and velvet pieces with right sides together, and then sew them together.