Yes you CAN make a headboard!
After fully renovating an 8-bedroomed guest house previously my husband and I are dab hands at headboard-making! A straightforward rectangular one is super simple, just get yourself:
A sheet of MDF cut to size
Foam blocks - I use the Bench Seat Pads from Dunelm, which you can cut down to size using a bread knife
A couple of metres of 2-4 ounce wadding - I find Amazon is the easiest place to buy it. Make sure to read all the dimensions and order enough for over-hang.
Your choice of fabric + 15cm minimum on each side
Some PVA glue
A staple gun
It's easiest to make a headboard with two people. The process goes:
A crucial first step NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN - mark where you plan to affix your hanging fixtures before you do anything else! Don't attach them just yet, but mark them out exactly so that they're level, you'll want to be about 4" from the top and sides to allow for your fabric overhang.
Lay your foam blocks out and cut to fit the MDF board - we usually make our headboard to fit the blocks as they're standard sizes and it makes life much easier!
Coat the MDF with pva on one side and affix your foam blocks, leave to dry
Lay your wadding out over the foam, ensuring there's sufficient overhang on each side
Being careful not to wrinkle the wadding, lay your fabric over it, again making sure there's sufficient overhang on each side. If there's a pattern, make sure it's centred, and if there's a large print make sure it's centred by making the MDF top and bottom with a centre-line.
Once everything is in place, carefully flip the whole thing over so that the fabric is against your work surface, with the wadding, foam and board inside.
Make sure the wadding and fabric are pulled taught, and that your fabric is still lined up with the centre if needs be.
Starting at one end, and with your partner holding the fabric and wadding in place at the other end, pull both layers taught around the MDF board and staple from about 2" in and from the centre outwards, repeating every three inches BUT
STOP about 2-3" from each edge corner!
Swap ends with your partner and repeat, not forgetting to STOP before you reach the corner
Repeat on the remaining two sides
For the corners, have a play about with folding/pinching inwards in a way which causes the least wrinkling - a lot depends on the weight of fabric and wadding you've chosen, so don't be scared to cut away any excess so long as you've got enough to fully cover the corner and secure it firmly in place. Once you've got one right the others will feel much easier!
Lastly, once everything is stapled, go around and cut off the excess fabric leaving about 1-2cm from the staples.
Affix your hanging fittings (we usually use heavy D-rings) and baby you've just made yourself a custom headboard!
