DIY Upholstered Headboard

Last month I decided to redecorate my bedroom. One of the items I need most was a new bed frame and headboard. I started by making the headboard below. I hesitated for a while before starting this project because I thought it would be really difficult, but it ended up being much easier than I thought. I had a few setbacks, but with a little trial and error, I eventually got it right. If you decide to take on this project yourself, you have the advantage of learning from my mistakes :-)

Materials
Sturdy 6'x4' Plywood Board (for Cal King, wider for King)
6'x4' (for Cal King, wider for King) - 1" thick Foam
Twin Size Batting - High-loft
Upholstery Fabric - 5'x7' minimum
150-250 Upholstery Nails
Staple Gun and Staples
Adhesive Spray

I started by picking the design I wanted for my headboard and drawing it onto the plywood. First, I cut the plywood down to the correct width. Then I used my pin-string-pencil compass method of making arcs, since I couldn't find anything to trace that was the right size. (This method involves tying a string between a pencil and a pin, holding the pin at the center of the circle, and then rotating the pencil around the pin in an arc, keeping the the string tight as you draw)

After the design was drawn onto the board, I used my jigsaw to cut out the shapes. This was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I started at one side, cut out the arcs, making my way to the center, then starting again from the other side.

I then laid the 1" foam on the board and cut it 2 inches from the edge of the board with sharp fabric scissors, but a large rotary cutter might have been easier.

I sprayed the front of the wood and the back of the foam with spray adhesive by lifting half of it off the board, spraying it, and laying it back in place. Then I repeated it from the other side. Next, I laid the batting over it all and soothed it out.

After I smoothed it around all the edges, I used the same spray adhesive method on the batting too to keep it from shifting over the years.

Once the adhesive dried, I laid the fabric over it. I prewashed, dried and ironed my fabric to get all the wrinkles out. Be sure to use a gentle or hand wash setting if you wash you fabric. It will fray a bit, but it shouldn't fall apart (if it does, it's not suitable for this project). At first, I tried just hammering in the upholstery nails straight along the edge of the foam, but this proved incredibly difficult and made a really crooked edge. 

So, after a little trial and error, I folded the fabric back over itself and 

stapled 1 3/4" of an inch from the edge of the board. 

The made a much cleaner line and made it way easier to get the upholstery nails into it. 

After I had all the straight edges down, I folded the fabric around the back and added a couple staples to hold the fabric back. I didn't staple it down completely because I hadn't yet finished the curved areas.

Next, I marked every 1/2 inch in a line about 1 1/2" from the edge of the board. 

I found it to be much easier to add the upholstery nails if a held the nail in place with needle nose pliers while hammering.

When I got to the curves, I folded the fabric back as shown below, but I didn't stapled the curved areas.

After all the nails were in, I finished stapling the fabric behind it and mounted it on my bed frame.