Tent Week, Day Three -- Army Bunker Tent!

Today I want to show you how I made this army bunker tent to fit my kitchen table!!


What I love about this tent (besides how AWESOME it looks!):


~ It's BIG -- plenty of room for a few kids to hang out in there!



~ It breaks down small enough to fit inside a pillowcase -- easy storage, and doesn't take up much space!

~ I made the whole thing from one twin sheet set ($13), one thrifted laundry bag ($1), a couple canvas belts (on hand), a "reversible" zipper -- tabs on both sides so nobody gets stuck inside! (a whopping $5.50!), and some PVC pipe (totaling about $7) -- for a total cost of $26.50!!

PVC pipe is very fun, cheap, and easy to work with. I made a simple frame to fit my kitchen table using 4 "T" fittings, 4 90 degree elbows, and 4 of what they call 45 degree angle fittings. (They are actually 135 degrees -- for some reason they measure the outside of the angle?) I opted not to do a bar across the peak of the roof, simply because there are no pipe fittings that allow this when you are using 45 degree angle fittings. I could have used 90 degree fittings to get a bar across the top, but I prefer the lower angle -- it used less fabric, and is more realistic for this particular tent!

To secure the pipe roof frame to my table, I simply used 18" of velcro (you need 18" of both the hook and the loop sides) for each corner, overlapping a couple inches on each to make a long strap.

I then wrapped a velcro strap through each corner of my pipe frame and around each corresponding leg of the table.

I snipped next to the stitching that secured the elastic in the fitted sheet and pulled the elastic right out. Easy! (I've saved it for another project, of course!) I then cut along the seams that made the boxed corners of the fitted sheet. This gave me a nice, flat piece of fabric to work with. Oh, and those casings for the elastic? After a quick press they made perfect little hems to be utilized in my cutting layout! Yay for shortcuts!!

Okay, since kitchen tables are not one standard size, I can't give you exact measurements to make your own. But I will tell you the basic construction of my tent. I laid the flat sheet over the table (with the frame strapped on). It was slightly wider than the long sides of my table, and 11 inches short of making it to the floor on either side. I split the sheet straight down the middle (so I could utilize those already-hemmed edges in my tent!), and needed to add a strip down the center to make up for the needed length.

I drew up some pattern pieces for the peaks of my tent. I decided to have the peak portion of each end be separate from the lower part. (I had the lower part start just below the apron of the table, to avoid little ones bonking their heads on the table when entering the tent.) I was determined to make it all fit on the sheet, so I used graph paper to draft the dimensions of the fitted sheet (accounting for those missing corners), and also the pattern pieces I needed to cut. I scooted those little graph paper pattern pieces around on the graph paper until I found a layout that worked for fitting everything. I ended up piecing the strip at the peak of the roof, but this was not a problem at all. As you can see, there really wasn't much left of the sheet!

I wanted a little extra structure across the peak of the tent, so I busted out two canvas belts, sewed them together end-to-end, then sewed them across the peak of the tent. I also sewed velcro straps onto the canvas belts to strap to each peak of the pipe frame for added security (not pictured).

To make the windows (two on each long side), I cut a rectangle two inches smaller in height and width than I wanted the finished dimensions to be. I marked 1" out from each corner, then cut from each corner of my hole to the dot. I pressed the seam allowances to the wrong side.

I used a thrifted mesh laundry bag for the windows. I sewed a piece of the mesh right on the pressed edges of the window (it took about a million pins to make it behave!), then trimmed the mesh to match the seam allowance of the tent fabric. I then turned both the mesh and the tent fabric in again to create a finished edge, pinning like crazy and sewing along the folded edge.

I double-topstitched all the seams for added stability and for that "utilitarian" look.

I made the storage bag from the pillowcase simply by adding a drawstring. Everything fits inside perfectly! I decided to add the pouch the sheets came in for extra interest, with a little freezer paper stenciled plastic army guy patch. Both the piece of twill I used for the patch AND the drawstring came from the thrifted laundry bag I used for the windows!

There were even just enough leftover scraps from the sheets to make little drawstring bags for my boys' plastic army guys. More patches too, of course!

I had tons of fun thinking about and planning this tent. I spent a long time on it to make sure it turned out just as I envisioned -- and it did! And best of all, my boys LOVE their new tent!