I cannot explain how badly I need this, and if it wouldn't cause my boyfriend to kill me, I could probably have already constructed this genius object in my front room.
I will be patient and wait until we have some outside space. and then I will build my anti sunburn outdoor reading hiding place (After a trip to south all for suitable materials, of course).
Our final product measures about seven and a half feet tall by 6 feet wide. We wanted something large enough to hold all three kiddos, without taking over our entire house. This little hut can stand on it’s own all winter, and when we’re finito, we’ll simply fold it up and stash it away. (See: under our bed.)
We purchased six 1 x 2 x 8’s at our local store. On each piece of wood, we measured 1 foot down and in the center, drilled a hole using a RYOBI cordless drill. This is for the jute that will hold it all together.
I wish I had a photo of us putting it together, but it really wasn’t that complicated. You’ll definitely need an extra set of arms, but we just gradually positioned the poles, and as we added each one, strung them all through with jute until they felt right for a teepee shape. When we were finished, we wrapped it around until it was secure.
Because this tee pee is currently residing on the tile of our veranda, we used some hot glue to stabilize the bottoms on the floor. When we’re finished, we’ll just pop it up.
It’s not perfect, so let go of the notion and don’t let it drive you crazy if you decide to tackle this one. It’s fun and that’s all that matters.
The second best part to this whole insane little creation? The total cost for us with this teepee, was a whopping seven dollars. Why? Because we only paid for the wood. I decided to use this project as a fabric buster… Apparently I’m a little bit of a fabric hoarder in denial. I measure fabric for products like I do spaghetti and I’m all, what? It’s not three yards in a foot? Then I have enough fabric to cover a small village (or build a few teepees) and it sits in my cabinets for three years. Alas. Sigh. Digression.
Consider this a little project to get your purge on. I even purchased two large drop cloths from the hardware store (which we will now be returning) but you could slice one up, and supplement with patterned fabrics in between.
I actually knocked this out in a day, and once you get into the groove of it, there’s a learning curve. I recommend it as a weekend project if you want to take your time. (If you’re anything like me, once you’ve started you don’t want your kids dive bombing all your fabric or singeing off their hair in the glue gun, so you just want to finish.)
I wanted something fun and frilly since you can see it from all corners of the house, but a second alternative would be to take a simple drop cloth, drape it over and pinch it in place with a giant clip. I’ve seen those floating around the interwebs as well.
So I eyeballed it and starting at the top, cut my fabric into strips. I simply mimicked the rope action above, because the top part was a bit jumbled and complicated. I layered a few pieces, and secured them with glue. Tada! The top of my teepee. (Tipi. Tepee.)
Once I was about half a foot down, I began a system of ‘weaving’ the fabric through the poles. Since I was choosing from my fabric stash, I would eyeball to make sure I had enough, and cut to length. The pattern went over, under, over, under. When one section was under, I made sure the next section tucked around the pole, so that it was hidden. I just made sure to hot glue as I went, and hide the wood.
A few more hints:
• It doesn’t really matter how you do it, as long as you establish consistency. I found myself touching it up as I went. You can go back and tuck and glue and fold, until it looks right.
• Because this style is really made up of pieces of fabric, it will have a ‘ribbony look’. Read: gaps. I went back on the inside, and tacked the pieces together with hot glue. The kids said they like the ‘ribbon’, because they can peep through and see who’s coming. Eventually the hot glue will come loose, but it’s low maintenance and easy to repair.
• Put your glue gun on low, so a. you won’t singe the skin off your finger and curse the day you were born b. when you’re pressing said glued pieces together, it doesn’t take that long to dry.
• When you’re dealing with fatter pieces of fabric (see how I alternated my layers?) the angles with joining them from pole to pole will be a little more noticeable than with a skinny piece. Make sure they (the fat pieces of fabric) stretch all the way across from top to bottom, before securing with glue. There were a few sections I pulled down and had a redo. Thus the glue gun. Glue guns make everything okay.
• Make sure you save your biggest pieces of fabric for the bottom… the gaps get larger (and the pieces get longer) as you go.
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