DIY Teepee

 

I always hesitate to do tutorials because I rarely measure things and don't take great pictures, and overall not quite sure how helpful they are.  But I do think it's good proof that projects can be easier than you think and a little nudge to maybe get a few done!  

And this just may be my favorite project I've done in the last year.  I read a variety of tutorials online and most of them seemed a little too complicated for me.  I saw some good ones using sheets or a paint drop cloth, but I already had a good amount of fabric I wanted to use.  

I already had the fabric that I got from fabric.com for about $20.  The wood was only $5 so a $25 teepee! 

We bought five cheap pieces of wood that were 8 feet long.  We cut them to 6 feet to fit in our basement, but you could make it however high you want.  Chris drilled holes about 6 inches from the top and we looped twine through the holes and wrapped it around many, many times.   

Since all my  teepee sides were different sizes I couldn't cut five triangles like I originally planned.  Instead of fixing it to make that work, this seemed easier.  I made sure to have enough fabric for the front entrance and cut that piece off.   Then I just wrapped the fabric around the teepee, knowing it wouldn't cover all the way to the top.  I cut off extra and pinned it so it would stay in place. 

I took some of the leftover fabric and wrapped it around the rest of the top of the teepee.  There were lots of random cutting and pinning to get the right size.  The random pattern of the fabric helped because I didn't need to worry about it lining up.  If you choose stripes or a busy pattern this would be tricky!

After I pinned it, I sewed the two pieces together and then put them back on the teepee and used a few pins so it would stay up for now.

Then I cut out a piece for the entrance that would cover the whole front.  (No measuring.  I just had Chris help me hold up the fabric and drew a line with a pencil where I should cut.)

I cut a slit up the center and cut a little out so there'd be an opening.  I hemmed these two sides in a little.

I turned all the the fabric inside out so I could pin the entrance to the rest of it.  I definitely used Chris' help again, as it is a lot of fabric to work with.  We carefully slide the whole thing off so I could sew both sides of the entrance piece together.  This was by far the most fabric I've ever worked with and was a little tricky to maneuver on my sewing machine, but they are all straight lines which makes it easier.

Last minute I decided to add ribbons near the bottom so you could tie the sides up.  I used bias tape and just slide it in between the two pieces of fabric while I sewed the sides.

I cut off any extra fabric and turned it inside and prayed that it would fit right!  Thank goodness that it did. I'm sure I would've cried otherwise.  After a week or so the fabric did start sliding down a bit and since then I've pin it together a little and need to sew it a little tighter.  So if I did it again, I'd just make the seams on the front piece a little tighter, knowing it would stretch a little. 

Ta-daa!!! Teepee complete. 

Can't wait to share the rest of our basement playroom.  I'm attempting way to many projects at one time with Addilyn's birthday party coming up, but I'm almost done with it!

(Easiest diy pillow tutorial here & ottoman covers here)