Tepee Tutorial

I was asked if I could do a tutorial of the tepee I made Abby for Christmas so here is what I did.  I followed this http://www.strawberryswingandthings.com/2013/07/sew-fun-diy-teepee-tutorial.html  tutorial for the most part but here are the changes I made.

- when cutting out the pieces I found it easier to make a pattern out of wrapping paper-it had guides on the back and it made it easy to get the triangle shape right. 

- I wanted it big enough for a a couple of 9 year old kids so I went bigger. My dimensions were- 

4" on top 34" at the base and 68" tall-right up the middle of the triangle. I am not sure of the dimensions on the angled sides of the triangle. On your pattern add inches to these measurements for seam allowances- 1 1/2" on the angled sides, 1 1/4 " on the base, and 1 " on the top- these are listed in the above directions as well.

-I did 5 panels all the same size which means 5 poles. I cut them to 7 ft. tall and did the holes for the strings connecting them 11" down from the top.  

-I cut the door opening 46" up from the bottom

-I did spray paint the whole length of my poles gold but when I fit them into the pockets the excess paint came off on the cream material even though I wiped them off a lot before had. But they are in now and you can't tell.  Either way would be fine I am sure. 

-As far as the material I looked for the cheapest curtains I could find. I got mine for $8.50 each at Walmart and could get two panels from each curtain so a total of 3 curtains. This was the most expensive part but cheaper than buying lace material.  I used the scraps as bias tape for the opening on the front and the ties. If you have space then you could do 6 total panels from 3 curtains making the tepee even bigger but you would also need an extra pole. Just find material or curtains you like and follow the measurements making sure you have the length and width for one panel then you can make as many panels as you want.

If you want an even bigger one you can look here for measurements: http://racheldenbow.blogspot.com/2010/01/teepee.html

Here are some pictures of the one I made. I love how soft and girlie it is. We just added lights on top of the fabric which makes it really fun. Then some soft pillows and fur rug-this one can be found at Walmart as well.