Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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How To Make A Fabric Bed Canopy

*Thanks so much for all of the kind words and the love that you guys shared after yesterday’s post. It was so touching to read all of your stories and memories. 

A few weeks ago when Clara saw a canopy hanging over her friend’s bed, she was immediately in LOVE. As in, she put in a request for “daddy and mommy to build a canopy with a hammer and some blankets” for her right that second. Not surprisingly, we were in. Just not for the whole hammering blankets thing…

Hanging5

We love that it’s something she requested and that it adds more playful personality to her room, Heck, it just might get her excited enough to sleep in her daybed (yes, she’s still happily snoozing in her crib, but seems closer to making the switch every day).

So the first thing we did was grab some spare fabric that we had in my stash, not for color, but just to see if the shape that we liked most (something like this) would work, and to figure out how many yards we’d need. Oh yeah, and the first planning stages of this happened before we painted her room/closet/ceiling, but then we realized we should do that before hanging the canopy, so room-painting jumped the line.

Canopy1

Next, John made like Superman. Because, you know, that helps during any project.

Canopy2

The next day right before we hit up the fabric store I remembered we had some old sheer curtains that John could hold up so we could get a better idea of how white would look. With so much pattern in the rug and the curtains along with the art that we’re planning to rehang from her last nursery/playroom, we thought white with some colored ticking or fringe would probably be the best choice for a playful but not too circus-y canopy that would hopefully work in her room for a while, even if other colors/accessories change with Clara’s taste as she grows.

Canopy3

We liked how the white sheers looked but they were a little bland without any trim (which further confirmed that we needed to grab something colorful and fun to accent them) and they were a little short on each side. So we used them as a placeholder and measured how much more yardage we’d need to create a similar canopy that’s long enough to drape fully over each side of the bed. The magic number = six yards.

We scored bigtime at Hancock, getting all six yards of washable cotton/poly blend fabric for $20.94 thanks to a 50% off coupon that I found on their website (they just scanned my phone). We also found enough turquoise pompom trim to line the entire outside edge (another six yards) for some added flair. Clara was actually the one to point it out slash pet it first (my girl!) so that sealed the deal. Well, that and the 60% off markdown (it came to $9.54 for all of it). I was especially excited about the pom pom trim since seeing this canopy with pink poms. I think it just adds so much fun-factor.

Canopy4

After washing my fabric (that way it’s all pre-shrunk and ready to go) I hemmed in on all four sides. I actually did a double hem – folding it over and sewing it once, and then folding it again and sewing the edge one more time, just for a completely finished look on the inside so there’s nothing stringy hanging out since we figured you’d see the inside of the canopy while laying in bed.

Canopy5

Let me tell you… double hemming a giant 18 x 4′ sheet of fabric on all sides takes quite a while – at least for a #reluctantseamstress like me. But I sort of got in the zone, especially on those two 18′ long sides, and just plugged away until it was done. Afterwards I used my iphone calculator to determine that I completed 88 feet of sewing since it was 44 feet around, twice,  which was oddly satisfying. It’s like learning how many hot dogs can circle the Earth’s equator.

Next was the fun part… adding the pom pom trim. I just sewed that to the front side of the canopy along the entire 18′ edge.

Canopy6

All told, it probably took me about four hours (again, I’m a terrible sewer, so I’m sure someone else could whip this out in an hour). But I’m in love. The fun pom-poms tie into the colors in the rug and the curtains (a ton of her to-be-hung art is that color too) as well as being super fun for Clara to gaze up at.

Hanging4

As for how we hung it, we actually used the same decorative wooden brackets that we used in our kitchen. Remember we removed these two extra brackets? Well, we reused those and bought one more from Home Depot and painted it. They were only 9.5″ deep and we wanted the fabric to billow out a bit more, so we cut some scrap wood to create 17″ slats…

Brackets1

… that we nailed into the top of the brackets to make them all one piece. Then we just hung them on the wall with two screw and anchor sets for each one (the back of the brackets have two holes to slip onto screw heads so they stay firmly in place).

Brackets2

The worry-wart mom in me is glad that Clara can’t possibly jump on the bed high enough to bash her head on the top one, and we thought a bunch about where to place those side brackets so they wouldn’t be in the way. Putting them down too low would mean that we might lean back and get caught in the canopy during story time, so by placing them about 32 inches above the top of the mattress, they keep the canopy out of our way for reading, snuggling and animal-wrestling (don’t ask). And since they’re lined up with the arms of the bed there will never be someone leaning back or jumping in that area like they might towards the inside of the bed. Well, at least we hope not.

Clara3

The large flap of fabric is just resting on the brackets for now, but I was planning to use strips of velcro to hold it in place (maybe just along the top and it can just drape over the two side brackets?) but Clara has been so gentle with it – just gazing up at it, softly running her finger delicately over the pom-poms – that I think I’m going to do the lazy mom thing and say “it works for now, and if it gets yanked or drives me nuts I’ll add velcro later.”

Clara1

She’s blurry here, but this photo most accurately catches her love of her canopy. This girl is smitten.

Clara2

We’re not quite done with that wall. Along with wanting to add some chunky crown molding around the top of the room we also think it would be fun to hang a mirror or some art or a 3D paper mache collection of animals or something to break up the white triangle under the canopy, but the jury is still out on where we’ll land. Just for fun I stuck this Target mirror in there thanks to my good friend Photoshop, but who knows where we’ll end up. I’m thinking something like this could be really fun too.

Clara Mirror

In the meantime I’m loving that our canopy’s made of kid-friendly fabric that’s washable and that it was a not-too-complicated project – but most of all I love that it makes Clara so dang happy. This morning I overheard her telling Burger that he had to wear “a crown and a wand to come into my room because it’s for royal sleepovers.” Don’t think Burger’s quite sold on the idea of wearing anything on his head just yet…

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Comments

  2. Laura @ Rather Square says

    I love this so much. Our toddler is on the verge of switching to a big-girl bed too (we found out when she climbed out of her crib one night!), and I think a canopy is a cute idea! And how do you like Hancock? We got some great fabric there the other night for an audio-speaker-recovering project coming up. Sometimes they have a smaller selection, but lately they have had just what we need.

    Reply

  5. Diane says

    Charming! But, my pets would have gone after the pom poms and destroyed the entire canopy in a New York minute!

    Burger should have a crown, robe, and scepter. He is the Burger King!

    Reply

  6. Brit [House Updated] says

    I had a pink canopy growing up and loved it. Not sure if I loved it more because it was just awesome or because it made all my friends want one too! So cue Clara’s popularity all from this canopy (and her innate charm, of course!)…

    Reply

  8. Rosemary says

    I’m so jealous of your sewing skills. I’m not being sarcastic. I didn’t even finish one project before my sewing machine got jammed (or something!?!). I have high hopes for my sewing future. You have mad sewing skillz.

    Reply

  11. Katy @ The Non-Consumer Advocate says

    I love how easy this project was, as there is no one who can’t sew a straight seam. And the ball fringe is perfect!

    Now . . . I wonder which of my teenage sons is up for an adorable new canopy?

    Katy

    P.S. Your exercised restraint is not making a “blue ball trim” pun derserves a medal. Not sure if I could have held myself back. ;-)

    Reply

  12. Molly says

    I was just looking for those brackets from your old kitchen post! I can’t seem to find them on the home depot website. Did you order them on line or get them in the store? Do you know what they’re called or have a link to them? Thanks!!

    Reply

  13. Karyn says

    Love it and great job Sherry!!! I’m so happy that you’re making friends with “Oh Brother” the sewing machine more and more (I was so relieved to see that you did a sewn hem instead of the fuseable tape that you’ve done on curtains in the past – it’ll hold up so much better for Clara).

    You’ve inspired me to make a canopy for my almost 3-year-old’s bed (eeek, how is my baby going to be 3 in just over a month! No, no, no it’s not possible *sob*) when we convert her crib into a day bed somethime this fall.

    P.S. I love the mirror and can’t wait to see what ends up on her walls art wise!

    Reply

  14. Liz says

    Cute!!
    I’m totally just a only-sew-straight-lines-with-my-dusty-sewing-machine kind of gal so forgive my ignorance…
    Is there a benefit of double hemming as opposed to just folding over twice and ironing – and then hemming once? I almost hate ironing almost as much as I do sewing but that’s what I normally do and it comes out with a clean edge.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I don’t think there’s a benefit other than I have a hard time keeping things straight, so sometimes the folding and ironing method makes me feel like it gradually gets a fatter or skinnier hem as I go, yet doing one hem on the machine somehow I can keep it lined up better I think, and then I can just fold that over and do another lined up/straight hem to lock it all down again.

      xo
      s

    • Amy says

      I had the same question :) Personally, I would have folded over twice, skipped the ironing altogether, and just held/and folded and I sewed. But I am a lazy sewer :)

      Just wondering why you didn’t make the canopy go all the way to the floor?

  15. Geertrude says

    That canopy is such a great way to add some fun to that white wall! I love how grown up Clara’s room feels, while it’s still obviously a child’s room.
    I wish my girls were younger, I would copy that canopy immediately. Though I think one of them would still be in for it, maybe in a dark color to add some drama to her mostly white room… Oh my, I think you’ve just added another idea to my lengthy to do list ;-)

    Reply

  16. Karen L. says

    Love this idea and the colorful trim, too! Clara is sure getting tall these days and she has the best smile. :) Maybe because I have five grandsons (along with one girl,in my son’s family near Richmond), I can’t imagine putting a mirror above one of their beds. Boys just wouldn’t be “trusted” not to hit it and knock it down on top of them. Hey, what about one of those cute cardboard animal heads there? Love this post.

    Reply

  18. Katie says

    Okay I’m just going to fall over and die. I’m going to be 18 next month, and I’m jealous of Clara’s room. I have issues.

    Reply

  19. Taurie says

    I LOVE this.

    My mom made me a canopy when we moved into our new house when I was 10.

    She used four sheer curtain panels and strung them all on a hula-hoop and hung the hula hoop from the ceiling. It was definitely easier to get caught in, so probably not appropriate for a three-year-old, but I felt like such a princess because it completely enveloped my entire daybed :)

    I just moved to Massachusetts 3 weeks ago and my little sister took over my room at home. The canopy was (finally) taken down and I was in shock because I couldn’t believe she didn’t love it and want to keep it!

    Anyway, thanks for the great memory– it’s so nice to think about how much mommas love their little girls :)

    Reply

  21. betty (the sweaty betty) says

    this is seriously adorable. I love all the blue accents in the room too. many times, I feel like people overuse pink for a girls room and blue for a boys room. I think this is the perfect balance of sophistication meets little girl.

    Reply

  23. Amy E. says

    Just a tip for when the crib-to-bed transition hits: don’t buy an expensive bed rail to keep her from rolling out of the bed. Go buy a pool noodle and tuck it under the fitted sheet of the mattress. (saw this on Pinterest, so don’t credit me!)

    When the transition hit at our house, we tried the pool noodles; we’ve only had 1 instance of mid-sleep roll-out. Even then, it wasn’t bad. When i was a kid, i used to roll out of my bed (the top bunk) and was never hurt.

    Love the canopy! And I’m glad Clara likes her room so much. She’s a lucky girl to have such accomodating (and stylish) parents!

    Reply

  24. Lindsey says

    That canopy is precious. I’m going to stash that idea away for when my little lady gets her big girl room (I’ve got about three years to wait though).

    Did you guys consider painting the area of the wall within the canopy to give it even more coziness? Or I could see some gold polka dots (similar to the stars you painted in her closet at your last house). Just an idea, but it’s so adorable as is!

    Reply

  25. Jess says

    Let’s discuss how fun all your links always are. Because stop it. Too fun!

    Thank you for teaching me how many hot dogs it takes to go around the earth. I learn something every day on your blog, but it’s fun that it’s not always about DIY! Sometimes it is about hot dogs – and that is awesome :)

    Reply

  27. judi says

    i’m curious why you changed out the curtains in her bedroom from the ones she picked to the polka dots…? totally just curious, i love the polka dot ones. do you already have a home (or something in mind) for the stripey ones that used to live in her room?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We have lots of curtain-less rooms (the dining room, kitchen, living room, spare room, and office) so we hope they’ll find a new place to live. They didn’t work as well with the blue rug as the polka dot ones did, and Clara asked to use the blue rug in there since the pink one was a shedding mess, so thankfully she was down with the switch.

      xo
      s

  28. Wendy says

    Love it! And much more practical/safe than a canopy bed. I had one when I was little and took to swinging around the poles and snapped one =X. I may have missed it in another post, but are you not using Clara’s fun pink blanket on the daybed anymore?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It’s a little too crazy on the daybed with the new rug/curtains, but it gets used in her crib and for snuggling on the couch a lot (and is stored in her closet with a few other favorite blankets of hers).

      xo
      s

  29. Heather says

    I like the idea of the canopy and the blue trim is perfect, but I wish that it stuck out from the wall a bit more. It looks like it barely hangs over the bed so it feels less like a canopy and more like wispy wall decor. One of my friends had a canopy growing up and it was awesome since you were under the canopy while lying on the bed – here you can only get under the canopy if you move all of the pillows out of the way. I’m sure you’ll say it is so she can jump on the bed without getting tangled in it but honestly a kid should not be jumping on a bed.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We actually debated making it deeper from the beginning (the fabric is 4′ wide, so it would just be as simple as making the slats of wood that we attached to the brackets longer) but we worried that it would just protrude so much into the room that it would feel like three deep prongs sticking out from the wall. Maybe we should just stick some deeper pieces of wood on the brackets to visualize it and see how it looks though!

      xo
      s

    • Sara says

      Why did you choose to hang it from the wall and not the ceiling? I, too, was envisioning something that would drape over the bed a lot more! And even that could be closed all the way around the bed for a cool tent-ish vibe.

    • Steph says

      I agree – I think this was a cute idea, but it just falls short for me. I wish it was more of a canopy…

    • Renee says

      What if you made only the top slat of wood longer? It would add another nice curve and more dimension. You could get the feeling of being under it, but not sticking too far out in the room. HTH!

  31. Katherine says

    Hey. I love this! I am rearranging my 5.5 year old daughters room right now. Her walls are very light purple lilac & we have flowery Ikea sheer curtains. Want a rug that’s 8×10 or larger to cover most of her room but was afraid of too much busy color so just got a white shag. But I love this rug. Where did you get it from?
    Thanks so much!!!

    Reply

  32. Cassie Helwig says

    That looks great!I’m too afraid to do one for my girls’ beds because I’m super paranoid about strangulation or something else horrible happening.

    Can I ask where you got her bed? We’re moving in the spring and moving our 4 year old from a tot bed to a big girl bed… and possibly our 2 year old from a tot to big girl bed as well if we can find a good deal on two day beds!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks Cassie! We got it from West Elm a while back as a wedding present from John’s God Mother. But I think ana-white.com has a similar building plan for making one that’s super affordable.

      xo
      s

  34. Karen F says

    very cute! It would be fun if you could find a mirror that mimics the moroccan-ish shape of the pattern in the rug (sort of like the mirror in your sink nook in your old master bedroom).

    Reply

  37. Sandy says

    Looks adorable! May I ask if there was a reason as to why you didn’t take the material on both sides all the way down to so it puddled a little and softened both sideds? Please don’t take it the wrong way, it definitely looks cute! Just see it as soft and flowy and then all of a sudden it just stops and becomes kinda just hanging there sorta. Puddled would no doubt soften it. Just saying …. :-)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks Sandy! We had longer fabric (the pink stuff) when we were choosing the length, but we thought it might be a little sloppy for it to go down to the floor (since there are four curtain panels that go down to the floor on the other wall, maybe the best way to describe it was that we thought it would be a nice clean look for it to stop at the base of the daybed).

      xo
      s

  38. suzie dyer says

    Hi. It looks great, so fun for Clara. What happened to the curtains that John is holding up in the picture with the pink fabric? Those are cute!! Where did they come from? Thanks.

    Reply

  39. Stefanie says

    This is totally adorable! I’m not usually a pom-pom lover but it totally works for this adding a little whimsy and a great pop of color. I also love the color the new rug brings into the room but it makes me sad how much of those beautiful floors it’s covering up. Are you guys thinking of leaving that one in there for the long haul or is it just a place holder?

    Just a little tip for you…since those brackets are eye level I would recommend adding some corner protectors to them for awhile while Clara is still little. I don’t want to come off as some crazy overprotective mother but when I was about Clara’s age I tripped and fell face first into something similar. The corner ended up hitting me in the eye and actually pushed my eyeball into my head. Blood. Emergency surgery. Luckily they were able to save my eye and besides some slight scaring I’m fine now, 27 years later. That experience has made me so crazy with my own kids. Safety First makes these little clear corner protectors that I’ve used that seem to work great. So sorry to seem like I’m preaching but I just would hate to see her get hurt!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Eeks, thanks for the tip Stephanie! As for the rug, I was actually thinking last night if it would be crazy to have it cut down and bound a bit smaller. We really love it in her room and John actually loves how big it is (for a kid’s place, having an almost wall-to-wall rug seems like a functional thing, and there’s so much wood flooring in the closet and the hall and all of the other bedrooms that I guess we aren’t as sad to not see as much in just one space). We’ll have to see where we end up!

      xo
      s

    • Jen says

      Totally agree- my first thought was how those brackets could really do damage if someone falls into or across them. Padded or not its not a good idea.

  40. Pamela says

    Is the green mirror from her first nursery (maybe repainted) large enough to fill the under-canopy space? Also, I think that the velcro would be a necessity, especially on the side brackets, to keep the droop even. But my kids were never known for their delicacy.

    Reply

  41. Nan says

    Hahahah! I love that she is following your foot steps. She saw something that she liked and figured out how to get it for herself… blanket & nails. You must be proud!

    Reply

  43. Julianne says

    That’s so sweet! No better feeling in the world than knowing that your child is over-the-moon hapy because of something you did for them. Looks beautiful! :0)

    Reply

  44. Julianne says

    That’s so sweet! No better feeling in the world than knowing that your child is over-the-moon happy because of something you did for them. Looks beautiful! :0)

    Reply

  45. Nicole M. says

    I love the blue pom poms…but unfortunately,I like the shape of the orange fabric better when Jon was holding it up. It looks like Clara is smitten, she has such wonderful parents! You know what just popped in my head and could be really fun…in your inspiration photo…they use an embroidery hoop…what if you somehow attached an embroidery hoop to the bottom of one of the birdcages and hung the canopy from that!! Could look really dumb or could be really cute :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We thought about incorporating the birdcages over on that wall but whenever we held them up they were either way too giant or looked a little too busy/small, so I think they’ll live on the other side of the room where her crib is once that gets moved out – maybe above her play kitchen on that wall?

      xo
      s

  46. Laurie says

    Aww, how neat that she is starting to decorate her space! It was bound to happen but it is still fun to watch her be aware of decorations and make choices. I love watching kidlets grow like that.

    As for the pom pom fringe…like music could always use more cow bell, homes could always use more pom pom fringe.

    Reply

  47. Lee West says

    After reading this (particularly the part about royal sleepovers), I now have the song from Sofia the First about royal sleepovers in my head. LOL. Love the canopy! And it is perfect for royal sleepovers! :)

    Reply

  49. Jill says

    My mom designed and dad did a very similar one for me when I was about 5. Kept it until we moved when I was 9, but the new house (in Norfolk) had cool rounded walls so I remember telling her I didn’t need it back. :) Thanks for the happy memory, we they were still around to show this less involved one….think dad didn’t want it to fall so a bit of over construction. :)

    Reply

  50. Jessica says

    Where did you get that adorable daybed? We’re redoing a smaller sized guest room and I’ve been looking for a daybed that doesn’t scream feminine with tons of scrolly and loopy metal decorations.

    Reply

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