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Summer Sewing ~ Child’s Tent
From Beth: Meg created this tutorial for you to enjoy. Don’t you think kids will love it?! Find her introduction here, and you can learn more about Meg and her creations at Boutique NutMeg Designs.
This Child-Size Teepee Tent is perfect for a rainy day or great for the outdoors! This easy, no sew project stays together with the addition of grommets!
Materials Needed:
- 6- 6ft bamboo garden post (can be purchased at Home and Garden Centers)
- 3 yards of 60 inch wide white painter’s canvas
- Scissors
- Pen
- Craft paint & brushes
- 3 Strong rubber bands
- 6 plastic 1 ½ inch rings
- Embroidery floss or strong thread
- Sewing needle with large eye
- 12 Large Grommets & grommet setting kit (I used 1/4”)
- Hammer
- Ribbon approximately 3 yards for lacing (additional ribbon for decorating is optional)
- Straight pins
Step 1
Hold all 6 bamboo post in your hands wrapping the 3 rubber bands tightly around the posts leaving about 4 inches at the top. Spread the posts making sure they will sit evenly on the ground.
Step 2 (Steps shown in diagram above)
- Lay fabric out flat folding the piece in half lengthways.
- Fold on the diagonal in to a triangle.
- With a marker draw a half circle on the top and cut away extra fabric.
- At the folded tip of the triangle draw a small half circle and cut away extra fabric.
- Unfold the fabric. You should have a large half circle which will be the sides of your teepee.
Step 3
Drape the cut fabric over the bamboo posts and pin the fabric in place at the top to make sure it will fit properly. After fitting, remove the fabric, lay it flat and use fabric paints & brushes to decorate the fabric anyway you like! The kids had a lot of fun with this step!
Step 4
After paint has dried, drape the fabric back over the post and pin in to place spreading each bamboo post approximately 18-20” apart leaving the front two a little further apart for an entrance. Then measure 8” from the bottom of the fabric at each post using a straight pin as your marker so you will know where to sew the plastic ring into place. Continue to measure every 18-20” at each post where the other 5 rings will go. Take fabric down from post and using strong thread or embroider floss sew the plastic rings into place. These will help hold the fabric in place when the teepee is standing and keep the posts separated evenly.
Step 5
Grommet time! Measuring 1 inch in from the side edge of the fabric and 1 inch down from the edge of the small half circle which is the top of the teepee, mark every 2 inches with a pen. A grommet will be set on each mark for a total of 6 grommets. Once you have marked where the grommets will go, cut the small circles out and then set your grommets.
Step 6
On the opposite side of fabric, measure 1 inch down from the top half circle and 2 inches in on the side of the fabric. Mark with a pen, every two inches for six grommets.
Once you have six grommets set on each side, lay your fabric painted side down and fold the side flaps over until you have both sides of the grommets matching up. Start on the underside, lacing the ribbon back to front through the grommets in the same style you would lace a shoe. Pull the ribbon to the front of the bottom two holes so you can tighten the fabric in place on the bamboo post!
Step 7
Sliding the bamboo post through the laced top part of the fabric, pull the bamboo post down through each ring on the inside of the fabric one at a time until all 6 post are through the rings. Then holding on to the top of the fabric, set the posts up spreading each post evenly, leaving the front two slightly further apart as this will be the entrance. Tighten the ribbon laces so the fabric stays on the post and finish in a knotted bow. Note: This process is easier with two people! I pinned my fabric in place at the top with a straight pin to help hold the fabric in place until the ribbon was tightened then I removed the pin!
Finished Teepee with the side flaps folded back and flaps down.
Step 8
Optional and Additional Views
I added a handful of ribbons around the rubber bands at the top for decoration.
Interior views, top of teepee and plastic rings around post.
Step 9
Have lots of fun!
This is so cool! My 4 year old son is going to love this!!!
VERY CUTE! My son’s only 5 months old, but this is a great idea for when he’s older. His room is jungle-themed so we could decorate ours safari! Thanks for a great idea!
what would you estimate the cost of this project to be?
Oh, THIS I love. My daughter is in a serious fort phase right now and I was just about to go looking for poles… SMS beat me to it. Thanks! Nice work, Meg. Great tutorial!
This is great! I love the fact that it’s made with canvas and painted on. Fun for everyone!
e is just 2 1/2 months, but I think I need to go buy 3 yards of fabric today so I can start building his first tent!
Awesome! My son will love this.
My son has so much fun helping me!
I had under $20.00 in it the banboo stakes were only 1.49ea and the fabric was $3.00 a yd at Walmart grommets are very inexpensive as well! Have fun! Meg
what a coincidence (or maybe not?) I was looking for over a month now for a tippi pattern to make for the holidays! And….tomorrow the holiday will start this couldn’t be better! thanx soooo much!
I am so excited to try this! This will be great for my kids, but I can also see making these for gifts!
This looks like so much fun. I think we will do this with our whole family. Even my 1 year old can get in on the painting part. I can’t wait for a free weekend to do this!
What a great tutorial – the twins would love this too! Maybe a mid-summer project for the whole family…Thanks!
So COOL! My kids will love this!
Wow, what a fabulous project!!! Thanks for the detailed directions!
I would have loved one of these as a child! I’m thinking that my daughter needs one!
I have been looking for instructions on how to make a teepee! Thank you thank you thank you!
Mine will be pink and sparkly I think.
i REFUSE to let my son see this post.
Thanks, Meg! This tutorial is fantastic and I can’t wait to make one for our backyard. My son is going to have so much fun helping with this project.
My girls will be all OVER this! Thanks for the great tut! ~Mary
Wonderful tutorial. Thanks!
Wow..Can’t wait to make this for my kids. I think that both my son and daughter will love this!
~Feather
My sons will love this! The love to paint fabrics, so painting a tent will be tehe best thing I can think of. We will send dad to the store right away
I had one of these growing up, now my son will too! Perfect and thank you.
very cute! i have some tapestries that this would work great for!
Love it! I’m grommet crazy, this is a great project but also opens up lots of potential for other fun and related projects! Camping shades and all. Thanks a ton for posting it.
My seven year old will love a portable play tent, my daughter too.
This is quite a children friendly project. Well done.
how FUN!!! my kids will love a teepee
OH wow! that looks like so much fun to make. I like the fact that my kids can help make it! Thanks for sharing the tutorial!
Ooh I wish I’d had this tutorial before we made our tepee last summer. I made 8 different panels (some painted by the children) out of cotton sheets and then had to sew them all together! Love the rings sewn on the inside to keep the poles apart too, wonder if I can adopt that and add it to ours. A really great tutorial and as you say, so cheap and fun to put together.
Too cute! Putting it on my to-do list.
Thank you for the great tutorial! My son is almost 4 and in that “hiding” phase. This will be great! We already bought the bamboo – just have to pick up the other items. I know he will love it! Also – thank you for all the pictures in the tutorial. I am a very visual learner.
I LOVE this!!! My kids have asked for one before but I wasn’t sure how to make it, now I can
Can’t wait to do it.
When you fold a 60″ wide and 3 yds. length of fabric in half, it isn’t square. What do you do with the
extra 6 inches? Do you trim it off? Just wondering.
My children will love this!
This is really cute. Do you think it would work with oil cloth for a slightly water resistant tent too?
oh boy. not something else to make! this looks like a lot of fun. hopefully not too much work.
Great project! It sure beats ugly plastic outdoor toys any day. I’ve been thinking of making a tent of sorts for inside. I’ll have to keep this bookmarked. Thanks!
THis is so cool. I might have to make it for my kids.
What a great idea! I would have LOVED this as a kid.
OH!! My kids might need one of these. Thanks!
What a great tutorial! I can’t wait to try this out. Thanks so much for your time and effort in putting this together.
oh i love this idea my boys will absolutley loove it!
Such a fun craft that involves the whole family! I’m bookmarking this one for when my toddler is a little older and can participate.
I would have LOVED to have had this when I was a kid! Awesome!
Yeah I love the hand prints!
Welcome Meg! I love this idea…so simple, but it creates something just amazing. I love making things like this with my kids. I especially like that they can paint it to be unique and just for them. We can have a homeschooling unit on American Indians or heiroglyphics or cave paintings and they can use this to decorate what they’ve learned!
I think this tent is a great Idea I want to start on one for my son now. He will love it. Thanks for the idea and the tutorial.
I love this idea! I have two boys that would love to have this in the back yard! Thanks for such a helpful tutorial!
My boy would love this! Thanks for such an inspiring post.
This is adorable. My son would love this!!!!!
Oh I would LOVE to make this…. is it dog proof?
Great project to make with kids!
I just LOVE this and know that my three boys would too. We are definitely going to be making one of these for them.
Thanks for this great idea! My three year old boy wil LOVE this!!!
I LOVE this teepee!!! I should make one for my nephews and nieces or just have children of my own.
I think it is great to have fun outdoor activities that stimulate the imagination of children. My mom always said that if we were bored, we weren’t using our brains. We played outside a lot and built a lot of forts. I would have absolutely loved to have a teepee like this as a child!
Beautiful…I’m bookmarking this one!!!
This is ingenious! I can picture making this for my nephews as a collective birthday present. Three boys in the same family all with birthdays in the span of ten days.
Thanks! I’ve been looking for a tent like this! I want to get rid of the ugly plastic one my children have…
I’ve been wanting to make a tent for my son for months now. Guess I have no excuses left now that you’ve posted such a great tutorial!
I love this idea! Especially letting the kids paint and derate it themselves. What a special hiding place!
my daughter would LOVE this! thank you!
I loved this indian teepee tutorial! My son would love for me to make him one! We’ll see!
My kidlets are going to love these! What a great idea! I never would have thought this up!
Thanks so much!
So cute! I really need to find the time to do this for my boys!
This is so cool! Thanks for the tutorial
I am so going to make one of these (or two) for my kids. Maybe one where they can paint it and then another one out of some home dec fabric. Thanks for the great tutorial!
Love the tent!!! Mary
Wow! I can’t wait to try this! My boys will love it! Thanks for the great tutorial.
This a great project. Kids would have a blast with this!
I love the idea, it would be nice in my kindergarten class too. Thanks for the tips!
What a fantastic design! I can’t wait to try this with my kiddos!! Thanks!
love the tent idea, perfect for my boy.
I had a tent like this when I was a kid! I will definitely save this pattern to make one!
I just had a friend making one of these. Hers was not this easy. I will definitely use this pattern for one.
This is one of the most awesome tutorials I’ve run across. Love it!! Thank you for sharing. I can’t wait to try it out–my little one will go bananas with her very own little tent. Thanks!
How fun!!! Our boys will love this and I’ve always wanted to make one ^-^ I think this will have to go in near the garden ^-~
I love this! I have to make one for my little natives!
I just bought a pattern for a kid’s tent but this looks SO much easier. Thanks!
Fun Tent! I have to try this:)
What a great idea! So much nicer than the cheap plastic versions available at the shops.
i love this-need to remember it when my grandbabies are a little older. it’s so much fun to play in a tent!!
Love this! What a fun project and what a great birthday gift it would make!
Fantastic! There is sure to be a teepee in our backyard by Labor Day! Thanks so much.
This is awesome – and simpler than the contraption of pillows and a flannel quilt that my son is enamored of right now.
This is so adorable!
So whimsical and fun!
If you make it with clear plastic, it’s a portable greenhouse.
I love this!! I just need to find the time to make one for my son….
This is so cool! I’ve been trying to figure out how to make one that is durable enough to warrant the time. This is great and i can’t wait to get started on it. Just gotta find a grommet tool and grommets and i’m going to get started. Thanks!
This is such a fun project–thanks for the instructions!
Love this!! Great idea, great tutorial thank you.
This teepee is wonderful. With two young grandson’s, aged 3 and 18 months, it gives me great ideas to keep them occupied this summer – and probably many summers to come. Also reminds me of being a child and making our own tents.
I’d also love to be one of the lucky “FREE FABRIC FRIDAY” winners!
I really love this idea! I want to make this for my 2 girls! They would love playing with this for months! We live in Arizona, so they could play with it all year round. Great tutorial.
Shealynn
Yes, yes, my kids too will love this…. now for the time to do it with them!
what a great idea…my kids would love that
This is such a great idea. Everyone loves a tent!
Lorrie
great tut !!! just what I need for my grandson! thank you!
thank you for such awesome tutorials everyone!
How cool!
My daughter is going to love this!!
What a cool idea!!!
I can’t wait to make this for my kids. We’re going use liquid watercolors on soft canvas fabric to paint it!
I love it!
I love it! And kids will have too much fun inside!
Great tent! A awesome idea for a summer day at Grandma’s house!
Fantatic! I will make this for my kids! They will be attending a camping holiday and I could just imagine them having fun with great tents.. Thanks
What a great project and a way to get the kids involved and they get something fun to play with for the summer! I have been wanting to make a teepee – thanks for the tutorial!
This is fantastic! My daughters would love this.
it *should* be FOUR yards of fabric – 120 inches to make two squares with 60 inch wide fabric.
sadly i didn’t do the math until after i came home from the fabric store with 3 yards cut. Now we have a very short tent and disappointment.
we just did this project.. we made 2.. used a 15×12 piece of canvas drop cloth. We cut off 3 inches and then cut in half.. so each piece was 6×12. our poles are 7 feet high (bought 8 ft ones but cut them down to 7feet). It came out perfect
.. Thank you soo much, my kids love these!!!
i Just want to say that who ever came up with this idea is really creative so yeah keep makeing them up!!
I have just finished cutting out the fabric for this tent and wanted to reasure people that 3 yards is perfect (well since I am in Australia I decided to do 3 metres and it is slightly too much
). After a sleepless night worrying that I had spent a small fortune of canvas I wouldn’t be able to use this was an incredible relief and I thought I would pass on the good news.
Thank you for the tutorial, my daughters birthday is in two weeks and she is going to love it.
I might or might not make/sew this for my five year old little sister. My mom may hep but, It seems so much fun. Can’t wait to see.
-Cecelia
Wow! Awesome… love it!
Has anyone tried to make this with 5 ft long bamboo stakes? Is it too short?
Also, I have some cotton duck that I want to use, but edges are already fraying – any ideas on how to stop this from happening or at least limit it?
Thanks for the great tute!
[...] You can see the tent and step-by-step instructions with photos here: http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=525 [...]
I want to find good pop music. Help me please.
I liked it. So much useful material. I read with great interest.
this is great it looks like fun
Great ideal, thanks for the help. I sprayed mine with camp dry to keep it longer outside helped alot. Now going to make one for our church project for our Harvest Diner with our youth group to have them put their give thanks to on and their hand prints can’t wait!!!!!