DIY: Modern Toddler Teepee Tent
Hey everyone, as part of my big project I’ve made this teepee tent for my client and decided to show you how it was done. You’ve probably guessed by a hint in the title of this post what the surprise is but that will be confirmed at a later date!
I searched around for a teepee tent that I liked for the space. I found a few but they ranged in price between £40-£90 (woah! I know!) so I decided to tackle making one of my own. I wanted it to be geometric and modern in its shape which I hadn’t found so it’s a little different to your average tent. An added bonus was that this cost me just over £20 in new and existing materials to make!
Heres how it’s made step by step;
Step 1:
Lay out your sheet (I used a king size flat sheet) and cut your panels, mine were about 10cm at the top to 100 cm at the bottom roughly, the height was just under 5ft. This will depend on the overall size of your teepee. On the front panels I left a lot of excess fabric on the side that will make up the entrance. This is so I could later on construct the front desired look. In simpler terms I had one piece that was a triangle shape and 2 that were more like a rhombus.
Step 2:
Grab your dowels! Mine were 1.8cm thick and about 6ft tall. I drilled 4 holes in the dowels at the point where they would cross to make up the teepee structure. As this is going in a child’s room, I made sure the bottom, top and around the holes of the dowels were sanded smooth to avoid any splinters!
Step 3:
Lay down your poles on the floor and thread the string through the holes so they’re all side by side. Gather them all up and spread them to create the tent shape. Mine would end up being 90cm across the front and 80cm on the other 3 sides. It was a preference that I wanted the front slightly bigger but it’s completely up to you. Proceed to tie the jute string weaving between the poles and around to attached them securely together. Give it a little wiggle if you’re unsure!
Step 4:
Start pinning and constructing your fabric around your poles. You’ll find that you might have a lot of seam allowance. That’s okay, you can always take away fabric but you can’t really add it back! Once it’s pinned then start sewing! You can do this by hand or by machine, whatever is better for you!
Step 5:
Once everything is hemmed and sewn together where you’d like it to be, pop the poles through the slots sewn for them and expand the tent to your original measured size. You can now start working on the front!
Step 6:
You should have 2 sides to the front. The right side is going to wrap to the front left pole and the left side is going to come all the way around to the back right pole to create the geometric look. Cut the material accordingly and hem it. I attached 3 poppers to the point where the right side will meet the left pole. This will fall underneath the overlaying side so didn’t need anything too fancy.
Step 7:
The finishing touches! Nearly there guys! I added 4 buttons to the overlaying piece from the front. 2 clear and 2 feature buttons. I hemmed the button holes to prevent fraying. Any seams that weren’t hemmed intentionally had a thin line of mod podge run down them, again to prevent fraying. Do a general once over of your tent for loose threads etc. and then you’re all done!
The whole project in total took my around 2 days spread out over a week or so. Don’t worry, I know it’s wrinkled. It’s going to be steamed of course once it’s gone past transit and is in the new space.
For total transparency, I went about this project slightly haphazardly and I would do some things differently next time. However, the end result was just as I imagined so if a DIY isn’t going as planned for you, stick at it! I vouched to showcase any DIY whether it went well or needed work to show that anyone can make mistakes.
If you decide to take on any of my DIY projects, then tag me on Facebook or Instagram, I’d love to see them!
Keep an eye out for the big project! It’s soon to be revealed 🤞🏻