Pages

Thursday 20 February 2014

Teepee DIY

Tell me I'm not the only one obsessed with teepee's at the moment? Call me a follower, as I'm aware they are the latest fad, but seriously! I love them!!!

And, because of my love for them, I decided to make one for my daughter. She is coming up 16 months and I thought she would love her very own little hideaway.

Now, before we move on, I must put a disclaimer out there... I am by no means a sewer. I am however, learning. Jono refurbished some old furniture over christmas and made me a sewing space in our spare room. I just love it!!! I will one day do a post on it, because it's just amazing! 
He knew I was quite keen on learning to sew. I mean, I'm pretty much home 24/7 these days, I needed a hobbie!
So with that out in the open, I feel happy enough to continue on with my very own Teepee DIY.
There will be no sewing lingo, as I have no flippin clue what any of it means. But I hope it's clear enough for you. 
And hey, if I can make one! So could you!

Materials needed:
Tape measure
Fabric - for the same size teepee, you're looking at about 2.4m in length by 1.8m (or 2 single flat sheets :)
Dowling x4 - 1.8m lengths
Thread
Sewing scissors
Sewing machine


 I picked up these retro single flat sheets from the hospice store for $4 a piece.





Lay out fabric in a big open space. The lounge has the biggest open floor space in our house, so that was the go! Oh, and if you have children, namely a toddler, do this when they are sleeping :)

Jono and I had pre cut the triangles from the first sheet. Here we had pinned it on the 2nd sheet and used it as a guide, this way, I got 4 perfect triangles that matched!
The measurements we used were 1200mm across the bottom of the triangle and 1600mm on the sides.

Jono took a sneaky pic of me 'hard' at work. Yes, I am wearing onsies. Yes it is about 3 in the afternoon.

Basically once you have all 4 sides cut out, pin them together. If you are using alternating fabric, make sure you space it out :) This pic shows the teepee sewing together, pre door and dowling. I love the fabric!

When you have decided what side you want to have the door on, find the centre, so in this case it was 600mm along the bottom of that triangle. Cut a slit up the centre to the height you desire. See below.




 I then pinned the door, ready to hem it.


Pre sewn


Now, this is obviously not the finished product... but it is awesome! I didn't take a picture of the sleeves to hold the dowling (wooden poles) in. Partly because it took me so much mucking around to get them perfect, even then, they are not picture perfect. But imagine if you will, the sleeves on this teepee holding the poles, but in the one I made the sleeves are on the inside of the teepee. The concept is pretty much the same.
Next time though, I think the above picture would be a better way to go!

The finished product, set up in my daughters room!!!! The dowling has been inserted into the sleeves and there is string holding them together at the top so that they don't slip. 

My daughter playing with her BFF's, two of Mim's kids. Seriously, this kid is totally obsessed with them!!!


Daddy came home and she grabbed his hand, and her towel and took him in to her new teepee.

I am so happy with how it turned out. It is such a cool feature in her room.
If you guys are game enough to give one a go, please tell us about it! If you have already, send me a link, I'd love to see it.

Much love,
Kate

2 comments:

  1. you did a fantastic job!! I've been wanting to make a cowboy one for Theo.. you have just given me the kick up the butt I needed to get onto it.. x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks :) We'd love to see a pic when you have finished yours :)

    ReplyDelete