Tent Week, Day Two -- Hula Hoop Dome Tent!

Today's tent tutorial is by my amazingly talented sister Elizabeth. She came up with the idea for this tent a few months back, and I've been begging her ever since to write up a tutorial for my blog. At last, here it is!

CLICK HERE for UPDATED PATTERN LINKS!!

This adorable kid-size dome tent was made from hula hoops and bed sheets.

The whole project cost less than $10!

Materials:
* 5 large hula hoops (84" - 90" circumference)

* King size flat or fitted sheet or a twin sheet set. I recommend that you use fabric without a directional pattern.

* Pattern (see end of post)

If using fitted sheets, cut along the seams that make the corners,

and remove the elastic so the sheet lays flat.

Cut out the following pieces: 6 wedges, 1 circle with a diameter of 50", 1 door flap (three inches larger on the curved edges than the shape on the pattern, which is for the opening), 30 small tabs (4 3/4" x 3"), 6 large tabs (4 3/4" square).

Trace the pattern pieces onto the sheet and cut out each piece. I used a king size fitted sheet, and this is how I laid out the pieces. (The large section at the right is on the fold, and that is where I cut out my circle.)

I had to piece together two of the wedges and the door flap in order to make it all fit on one fitted king size sheet. If you have to piece anything together, make sure to add an additional 1/2" seam allowance where you connect the pieces.

I used the leftover scraps to cut out the door flap.

Cut a doorway in the front wedge, using the pattern. Using purchased or your own bias tape, bind the edges of the doorway. Sew a piece of velcro at the top of the doorway. Bind the round edge of the door flap with bias tape. Sew a matching piece of velcro at the top of the door flap.

Hem the long sides of the small tabs and press.

Hem one edge of each large tab. Fold each in half right sides together and sew across the bottom edge. Turn right side out and press.

Line up the middle of the small tabs with the placement lines on one side of each of the six wedges and pin. Line up the bottom of the large tabs with the bottom placement lines and pin. (You will have 12 leftover small tabs for the bottom of your tent.)

Lay the wedges right sides together, sandwiching the tabs between the two wedges. Pin in place and sew using a 1/2" seam allowance. Match up another wedge, pin, then stitch it on. Repeat with the other three wedges, creating two halves of the tent top. Serge or zigzag along the raw edges. Pin the two halves of the tent top together, matching all 6 points of the wedges. Sew together and serge or zigzag the raw edges.


Fold your circle into sixths and mark each sixth with a pin. Match the seams of the six wedges with the marks on the circle. Overlap the door flap over the doorway and pin. Ease the bottoms of the wedges around the circle, pinning in place. (This will take some work to get it right, because your tent top may not be the exact size of the bottom circle.) Place the folded tabs into the seam allowance on the corners of the wedges and in the middle of each wedge, so that this time the wedges are on the inside of the tent. Stitch around the circle.

Take your hula hoops apart. On mine, they were wrapped with ribbon, which was taped in place, so it was necessary to remove the ribbon. Find the seam in each hoop and pop it apart. (There will be a two-ended cork holding it together.) My hula hoops had a few small pieces of gravel inside to make that shaking sound when you hula, so be sure to watch for them and throw them away.

Thread three of the hula hoops through the small tabs in the top of the tent and poke the ends into the large tabs. Hook the final two hoops together, using one of the two ended corks. Thread the connected hoop through the small tabs on the inside of the bottom of the tent. Cut one of the connected hoops using a saw as necessary to make the circumference of the hoop the same size as the circumference of the bottom of the tent. Use one more two-ended cork to hook the two ends together.

You're done!

Smaller version -- print and increase size 365% at your local copy shop.
Or, save full-size version of pattern and print at local copy shop.

CLICK HERE TO FIND PATTERN LINKS!!