Offcut bedding (Stage 3: covering things up)

So, another spring, another little wood project.

 

This time it was more or less built around the idea to use some leftover pieces from ikea's most basic shelves, namely the gorm, that which if you chain you end up with extra uprights, which you could use as firewood at the very least, but I was thinking something a bit more sustainable.

 

So finally I concocted a plan on a scrap piece of paper to utilize the bits for a bed of sorts.

 

May wood works project.

 

May wood works project.

 

As the rough plan was formed,

, and fire up the table saw to make all the pieces needed:

(Foot end pre-glued here)

 

May wood works project.

 

May wood works project

 

For the joints I used the same match-point technique as I had in the divan project, except this time I made the holes for the pegs with a dremel which was a lot more controllable which was needed since I had less area to make the two holes.

 

The main rails were notched with the table saw, and the corners were carved out with the dremel routing bit. the headpiece top was roughly cut with a small band saw, and then linished round with me belt sander.

 

The one piece that isnt from a piece of gorm is the lower horizontal rail on the head end, which was made from 18mm thick glue board since I needed the little lip at the end to keep things from flopping too much.

 

Fit and finish was acceptable for a prototype:

 

May wood works project.

 

The main issue here however was getting the thing totally glued together due to its size, which required a few types of contraptions to be made.

 

May wood works project.

 

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But despite the initial desperation of getting it together, we now had a frame, with a ruddy great big hole in the middle:

 

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I was initially thinking of using the backboard from a few frames that had lost their glass as a base, but I still had some left over Gorm to pillage, so it was time for some ribs.

 

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Sawing these was quite sketchy, so probably the backboard will be the next go to solution for me...

 

So by now it probably would be a really good idea to test if its even close to where I want, and Speck happily jumped on:

 

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Pretty close I thought, and then can now go dig up my sewing machine for the mattress... that is once I nail the ribs in place first..

 

Stage 2 continued..

 

Actually I had to scratch the idea with nailing in the ribs, since they are as thin as they are, without pre-drilled holes they would just splinter away, so just normal wood glue is holding them in place, which I think should be just fine since they only need to stay put with it.

 

next up was the mattress, which I wasn't too sure would turn out great.

 

the basic recipe was the same as the cushions in the divan thing, utilizing the cheap blanket I had already scavenged for that.

 

Because I was making this to keep my mind off other things this long weekend, I didnt end up taking too many pictures of the sewing process, but to be honest there wasn't much to see since its a basic rectangle, with a hole at the bottom, so how hard could that be?

 

Well, after I ditched the plan to try and make the top parts directly sewing into the blanket, it wasnt too bad.

 

For material I was using some surplus satin I had with the rough side outward this time. Double stitching on the top piece to help give it some form.

 

For stuffing, or batter, if you wish, I was at a bit of a loss as to how much and what of. the Divan cushions came out a happy accident of sorts, so it was just time to see what worked, if at all.

 

First layer of chopped up blanket going all around:

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Second layer going inside the previous one, cut down 1cm at the sides.

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Now I was thinking of adding the harder foam for some added rigidness, but since I really wanted a super sink effect I decided to go with a third layer of blanket material:

 

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Also proved a rather handy solution as the where to pin the inner edge of the casing.

 

time to turn it over and flop it on the frame to see how we fared:

 

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So does it sink? Speck was happy as ever to demonstrate:

 

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So.. next I guess is pillows and linen ware..

 

Again the choice of material for the linens was the scrap satin pile, of which I had three different sorts to play with for some variation.

 

Mind you satin is perhaps a bit posh as far as bed making goes, but I didnt quite have anything else handy.

 

The base bed sheet was just cut to size, and the sides folded twice to keep the satin from de-threading:

 

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The pillows were made from satin material #2 and was a bit of a try and miss procedure before I got the size about right, so fourth time was the charm.

 

The design was a typical pillow case, with pieces of the blanket I had used for filler inside.

 

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The blanket sheet was made from satin materials #1 & 3, and amusingly I ended up making a cutting error, I would have liked the sides to be more closer to the ground, but not enough material to redo it, so this is how it stands at the moment:

 

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Speck giving it a test:

 

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Still might give frame a lick of varnish, or even some grey stain if I can find some, but as far as the main components go, its more or less done.

 

Might update with the finishing touches if I get to them.

Edited May 23, 2015 by Guest

It looks great so far, I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

 

Oh, and just out of curiosity, what is the length and width of the bed?

Thanks.

 

The mattress is measured at 66 x 32 cm (so roughly two by one foot in imperial), the frame is a little bigger than that.

You are so talented, always making cool stuff for your pretty girls, and taking great pics too!

Thank you very many,

 

though Id like to point out the old wisdom, practice makes decent.

It's so well made and professional, I'm sure your dollies are delighted

Wow! That looks like an actual full size bed! That's awesome! Are you planing on making any other furniture?

 

Also... do you have any plans to make and sale any of these? Cause... that would be awesome.

Thank you..

 

I do have one big idea that would include multiple furniture pieces, but that's very much on the back burner until I get at least one of my three project vehicles zipped up.

 

Making stuff for sale is a bit problematic, mostly due to lack of free time, since I hardly have enough to make stuff for myself.

Thank you..

 

I do have one big idea that would include multiple furniture pieces, but that's very much on the back burner until I get at least one of my three project vehicles zipped up.

 

Making stuff for sale is a bit problematic, mostly due to lack of free time, since I hardly have enough to make stuff for myself.

 

Yea... I know all about not having enough time. Have to admit though, you have some real talent with building scaled down furniture.

It's so simple but so perfect. I love the little pillows and the sheet is so well done. My edges are always wonky when I try to make such things.

that's great! Cool!!