Throw Some Shade

Carlitakragland
by Carlitakragland
3 Materials
$8
5 Hours
Easy
Creating a shaded area can be cheap and easy. A hot mess patio is no fun. You don't have to be a handy man to fix it.
Our patio and small yard had no real shade and had been neglected long before my BF bought this place as a fixer upper 10 years ago. With his job, he had no time to work on it.
This is where I come in icon I'm from the mountains and need my outside time. The first step was clearing it out. Then, time to think outside of the box. First thing I did was measure the space in between the 2x4s.
Removing the old bindweed and measuring the space.
I'm using things I found around the house. Most of my projects are easy. I'm disabled and try to keep it doable for the average person. This drop cloth was left over from a paint project.
I'm using large paperclips to secure the ends. If you want you could use staples or what ever you have that will work.
Using the factory fold lines as a guide, cut the cloth in to strips. Make sure you have the hemmed sides as your ends. This will help hold it in place with your paperclips.


Cut with hem at the ends
Next I did a zig zag stitch along the raw edges.


For this I used left over thread. It's not going to be noticeable after a few months in the sun and salty air.
If you have pinking shears, trim the edges. I didn't have any so mine will just have to weather off.
Starting at the high end of the structure, I wrapped the fabric around the first 1x2 and used the paper clips to secure.
One clip on top and one on the bottom side of the board.
Hard to see, but put one on each side of the hem.
Then weave the fabric over and under the 1x2s. Make sure you leave enough on the end to wrap around the last board.


Pull the fabric back to tighten the wrap and then clip with the paperclips. Pull the slack at each drop where you want it. Your done.
This survived hurricane Harvey and the snow we had this week. I was told hurricanes never land here and it never snows in south Texas...picture from this week. The canopy survived it all. Lost a tree in the hurricane and the lattice work, but the paperclips held up just fine.
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3 of 39 comments
  • Bonnie Bonnie on Jan 06, 2018

    I was wondering what to do to replace the canopy on our glider swing. This idea will definitely work on it. What a great idea. Thank you.




  • Judith Anderson Judith Anderson on Jan 12, 2018

    We did this on our deck cover this past summer. It’s holding up well!

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