DIY Teepee Play Tent

by Christina Dennis

4 Materials

$75

5 Hours

Medium

Make a cute tent for your little one to play in, read in and have their own little space.

To make the same size of teepee as mine, follow the instructions below. I give some tips on how to make different sizes over on my blog. TheDIYMommy.com

Cut out three triangles from the drop cloth, one smaller triangle for the front panel from the drop cloth, and the two large and two small rectangles from the printed cotton fabric. Use the guide on my blog for your measurements and make sure that the bottom of each piece is on a hemmed edge of the drop cloth. This saves you having to hem yourself!

Use a measuring tape, a hard edged ruler and a pencil to measure and cute pieces to ensure you have straight lines.

Once the pieces are all cut out, it’s time to get started on the front panel with the curtain doors

Hem the bottom and the two inside edges of the large rectangular curtain pieces (fold over 1/4″, then another 1/4″ and stitch). You can then embellish the inside and bottom edges with trim if you wish.

Lay the bottom diagonal edge of one of the drop cloth triangles over one of the curtains and cut the side of the curtain diagonally to match the side angle of the drop cloth triangle. Repeat with the other curtain piece.

Next, find your small drop cloth triangle and pin your two curtain pieces to it so that their top edge is about 1/2″ above and behind the small drop cloth triangle. Adjust the curtains to overlap and match the sides of the drop cloth triangle. Pin and then stitch together.

Fold each of the two tieback rectangular pieces in half horizontally (right sides together), and sew down one short side and the long side. Turn them right-side-out and press to form a strap piece. Pin one tie back to the raw edge of one side of the curtain. I pinned mine so it was about half way down the curtain piece. Repeat with the second tie back and curtain.

Sew a small piece of velcro (hook side) onto each tie back, and another small piece (loop side) onto the wrong side of the curtain that’s about 2″ from the seam and in the same spot vertically as the tie back.

You can embellish the top half of the front with an applique if you like.

Now, you’ll simply be sewing all of the triangular panels together to make the pyramid shaped tent. Each seam will be a casing for the dowels.

Sew each panel together at the sides of the triangles, lining up the tops and bottoms (and pinning if you wish) on the RIGHT SIDE of the fabrics using a 1/2 seam allowance. You will have 4 panels sewn together and four seams. I found the drop cloth frayed a TON, so make sure you catch both sides of the drop cloth well when you sew them together.

At this point, you can serge, zig-zag or hem the very top of the teepee. I chose to leave mine with raw edges and so far it’s holding up!

Then, turn the tent inside out and fold each corner right-sides together. Stitch a line that’s about 1 1/2″ from the seamed edge to create a casing for your dowels. Repeat from the top to the bottom of each of the 4 seams.

The inside of the tent and the casing will look nice and neat, like this

Now, all you have to do is insert the dowels and tie the tops! Insert each dowel, one at a time, through each of the four casings. I found it easiest to go from the bottom of the teepee to the top. Once they’re all inserted, stand the teepee on it’s bottom, arrange the dowels at the top, and tie them with a piece of twine or rope. There will be about 9-12″ of dowel sticking out of the top of the teepee.

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4 lightweight wooden dowels that measure 6′ tall and 3/4″ in diameter or less (Home Depot)
A painter’s cotton canvas drop cloth (I used a 9′ x 12′ drop cloth and have plenty left over for other projects) (Home Depot)
1 1/2 yards of printed cotton fabric (for the curtain doors, tie backs and embellishments)
4 yards of decorative trim (optional)