Tent Week, Day Five -- PVC Frame and Mini Tents!

Today I want to give instructions and measurements for making a rooftop frame for a standard 34" square card table. Can't you picture the most ADORABLE little cottage with this roofline? When I make mine, I will include a round window that opens into the "attic" for toys to hide and "play" in!

You will need:

two 10 ft lengths of PVC pipe

fittings:
4 x 90 elbow
2 x side outlet 90s (mine had one threaded outlet)
2 x adapter from threads to pvc pipe

(This is what my side outlet 90s and adapters look like.)

Cut the following pieces:

4 x 21"
2 x 31"
1 x 29" -- ?
I would cut the final pipe's length a little longer at first. Not all side outlet 90s are the same, so there is potential for this measurement being wrong for your particular fittings.

Now all that's left is fitting your pipes together! The two 31" lengths lay on the table, the four 21" lengths create the gables, and the final length is the roofline. Ta-Da! You're ready to strap the frame to your table and create your tent/house!


Now I have to share a few mini tents -- because at MY house, having ANYTHING in miniature is The Coolest Thing EVER!


Susan made these mini teepees from the top pieces leftover from her teepee tent tutorial.


They are the perfect size for her daughters' princesses -- and her girls are just THRILLED with them!


This is the G.I. Joe tent my brothers used to play with. We had three little dome tents, and this was the smallest. There was a slightly larger tan one for He-Man, and an even bigger red one for my sisters' and my Barbies. These are replacement poles -- swamp cooler tubing. It's not quite stiff enough to do the job. Ideas, anyone? I was thinking maybe glow stick necklaces, but the length is a problem... you can't cut glow sticks down! The original poles were some kind of sturdy plastic that came from a home goods store, but after research we can't figure out what on earth it is!


And finally, this little guy I found at a thrift store. It's about 8" tall, and so stinking cute! I am wondering if a very heavy weedwhacker wire would be stiff enough to duplicate poles for a really small tent like this?


I really hope you've enjoyed Tent Week! It has been tons of fun, and tons of work...

...and I am definitely ready to sew something else now! :o)

Tent Week, Day Four -- Twin-sheet Teepee Tent!

Allow me to introduce my sister-in-law Susan. She has been my partner in crime for dozens of sewing projects, and is quite the sewing genius! Today she is sharing her FABULOUS tutorial for How to Make a Teepee. Here's Susan:

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You can't beat this tent for a great project. It looks great, fits more than one kid at a time, is easy enough for beginning sewers, it doesn't take all day to sew, requires no hemming (and has no raw edges!), it folds for storage, it is washable, and it only costs about $10 (maybe less!).

Oh Yeah, it's a good one.

Printable PDF instructions can be found here:
Page 1
Page 2

Follow along if you want the play by play tent making action!

To make one of these terrific Twin-sheet Tee pee Tents, all you need is:

~1- Twin sized flat sheet (must be the same on the front and the back as the wrong side faces out on the door flap)

~5- 6' pieces of 3/4" PVC, Dowels or Bamboo

~1- 25" piece of Rope, Twine, or a Shoelace

~Fabric, ribbon, etc for additional details (such as the door trim or flags on mine)

Definitely a great green project if you recycle an old sheet and use bamboo. Fabulous.

Start by laying out your Twin sheet. (Walmart's are my favorite and cost $4. They are wide and a little stiffer. Use cotton or cotton blends-microfiber sheets are not so friendly. This pink one was thrifted for $2.) Cut out according to the measurements found in the PDF instructions. They are long lines, so have a good marking tool (I love Dritz chalk rollers-the ones that look like lipstick tubes) and something long and straight handy (I had a skinny 6' Ikea box on hand. My husband mocked me for not using the PVC poles as my straightedge. They looked bendy to me. Whatever works for you.)

I added my door trim here-I cut it 3' long and about 5" wide and wrapped it around the back a little bit. You don't have to add anything to the door, but I like how it looks.

Overlap your two smaller triangle pieces (the smaller will be facing wrong-side up), matching the top points and keeping it even down the center seam (mine overlapped 5"). Either piece can be on the top. Your preference. I did the smaller piece on top here. The PDF instructions show the larger piece on top. Pin it together and mark a line 3' up from the bottom (this will be the top of the door). My trim kindly marked the 3' line for me. Cut off the top overlap using the bottom layer as your guide.

Baste the layers together along the out edge, then secure the two layers together by stitching down the middle, then across once you reach your 3' mark. (I zig-zag stitched this and added some reinforcing stitches on the edges as this gets pulled on a lot).

On all 5 triangle pieces (including your door piece that we have been working on), measure down 9" from the point on each side and cut off the top.

Along the top of your pieces, finish the edge by folding under 1/4" and then again 1/4" and stitching it down. (No, my pieces are not perfect. I can not be your role model) You are now finished with the only hemming/edge finishing you have to do on the entire project!!! Aren't you excited!!!!

With right sides together, connect all 5 of your triangle side pieces by sewing a 1/4" seam down each side. Since this is on the diagonal, it is a little stretchy and you can use this stretch to tweak the seams to match up nicely as you reach the end (the top of the tent). Iron this seam open. Yes, they are looooong seams. This is the only reason this tent takes any time at all to sew!

Turn your tent right side out. (pause to admire how well you are doing) Now you are going to make the pocket for your poles. With wrong sides now together (and your previous seam sandwiched inside), stitch all the way down the sides again, this time 1 1/2" away from the edge (this is for the 3/4 PVC I used. If you are using something different, you will need to measure to see how wide your pocket needs to be). You can mark this, or cheat and put a nice piece of painters tape on your sewing machine to use as your guide as I did. You will also need to stitch across the bottom of the pocket to keep your poles from popping out-I did it here at the beginning before I started up the side. Keep your large pieces as flat as possible on your table and pin a lot so the fabric doesn't start to bunch up. This is the hardest part.

When you are done the top of your tent will look something like this. Guess what? You are done sewing! Yeah!

Your poles should be about 6' long. My local Lowe's only sells 5' or 10' lengths (they came in two different thicknesses-I chose the thicker for about $.10 more) I used our pipe cutter to cut it down to size. Lowe's will cut it for you, or you can use just about any saw. You will also make a mark 12" down and drill a hole through the middle of each pipe that is wide enough to accommodate whatever rope you are using.

Insert your poles into the tent. Do not tie the poles together first. You will regret it. After the poles are in, tie them together, leaving some slack. If they tied together too tight your tent will not spread out all the way. I tied a nice little bow until I knew it was working well (This is rope I picked up at the dollar store for another project. It works great). You can finish off your PVC by buying a cap to put on top (about $.25 each), painting the poles, sewing sleeves, or you could sew flags like I did (it's my favorite part and takes about a yard of material).

And Voila!!! You are done! Wasn't that easy!

It's great for one kid to have a special place.

And there is room for a party!

And of course it is easy to fold up and store.

In fact, this project was so easy, you should make another! They are fabulous gifts and just think of how you will look when you come in carrying a giant present that will be the hit of the party. Yeah, you are just that cool.

Add your own ideas to the mix with great fabrics, pockets (its hard to see but the green tent has two pockets in the back), windows, mail slots, giant logos (my husband wants an obnoxiously BYU tent for our house), or whatever else your child needs or wants. I would love to see pictures of what you create! I hope you enjoy!

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!

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!!