Teepee Tutorial with Stow-Away Bag

Ever since I pinned this teepee, I was dying to make one for my own baby girl. It is just about the cutest thing, perfect for all ages, indoors and outdoors and totally storable. It doesn't sing any annoying songs or run out of batteries, and its completely customizable to the look you want... this "toy" is a total slam dunk in my book. I couldn't find an online tutorial that had exactly what I wanted, so I went a little free form with this project and I'm so happy with how it turned out. I used my sewing machine for most of this, but you can easily complete the project without a single stitch- I've included some modified instructions for my non-sewers. So, without further ado, my teepee tutorial! Here's what you'll need:

Materials:

7 yards of fabric (I used 2.5 yards each of 2 fabrics, and 2 yards of a third fabric)

1.5-2 yards of ribbon

4 10-foot lengths of PVC pipe

6 PVC pipe end caps

12 PVC pipe couplers
Thread matching your fabric

Spray paint (optional)

If you're not sewing, you'll also need heat bond glue strips.

Tools:

Electric or hand saw to cut PVC

Drill with 3/8 bit or larger
Sewing Machine
Scissors
Chalk or other utensil for marking
Glue Gun and glue

If you're not sewing, you'll also need an iron.

Method:

First, wash and iron your fabric. This is a little time consuming but oh so worth it, so you know the fabric won't shrink and pull away from the seams after future washes. Next lay the fabric out flat and prepare to cut.

Measure 69" along one long side of the fabric, and mark with chalk. Keeping one side of the measuring tape stationary, swing the other end toward the opposite side of the fabric, marking along the arc as you go, and then connect that point with the original corner, marking as you go. Then just cut out the panel. Here's a diagram to make that a little more clear:

Sorry for the quality,  but you get the idea, right? There's not an exact science to the angle of the panels, but its a good idea to mark out both panels on the fabric before you start cutting, so you know they fit. Once you cut out your first pieces, use them as a template to cut your next 4 panels without having to measure. On 2 yards of fabric, the panels should fit together like this:

Again, fabulous diagram job, I know- but it gets the job done! Once all 6 of your panels are cut, choose one panel to be the "door", and cut it in half vertically to form two mini panels. Then, pin them all together and sew (or use your heat bond glue, non-sewers!) the panels points-ends together into a half circle with the half panels on the ends, like this:

The more carefully you cut out and line up the pieces, the better your teepee will turn out so take your time here! I found it helpful to connect half of the pieces, then the other half, and then join the two halves so I wasn't dealing with so much fabric in my machine at once. Once your pieces are all connected, hem the raw edges of the two half-panels. Then begin hemming the bottom. Fold up about 1.5" of fabric for the hem and begin sewing around the teepee's bottom, leaving 2" spaces in the hem where each panel connects to the next. These little gaps will form pockets for your PVC end caps to sit in, like this: 

Once your hem is complete, glue one PVC end cap into each of the gaps in your hem, the pockets you created. Trim away any extra fabric that might get in the way when inserting your PVC pipes.

The last step to complete the fabric cover is to create the hole at the top for the poles. At the center of your half-circle, mark 3" from the center all around, and cut out this small half-moon of fabric. Fold down the raw edge and hem securely, so you're left with this shape:

Once your cutout is hemmed, simply connect (sew or glue, whatever!) the entry panels 1.5' down from the center, making your half circle into a cone shape. Fixing the top closed this way will help everything hold together once the teepee is standing. If you like, feel free to add ribbons to the entry panels about 3/4 of the way down to serve as a closure. You need about 1' of ribbon on each side if you want to do this. I did, and I think it looks nice although Felicity finds it really confusing ;)

Next we start on the structure of the teepee- the poles themselves. Cut your PVC pipe into 2' sections. You'll end up with 20 lengths of pipe, and you only need 18 for this project. Again, accuracy matters here: the more carefully you measure and cut, the easier it will be to put up your teepee in the end and the better it will look when set up. I'm the queen of rushing and cutting corners so take my word here- slow down and do it right! You'll be glad you did.

Choose 6 of the poles to be your top ends, then measure and mark 10" from one end. On each mark, drill a hole all the way through each pole. You'll be threading your ribbon through these holes, so choose an appropriate size drill bit for this, and brush away any plastic shavings after you drill.

If you want to spray pain your poles, this is the time to do it. Be aware that the paint does scratch off of the PVC rather easily, and can make the assembly and takedown of the teepee kind-of difficult due to the stickiness and slightly increased width of the poles. We opted to paint only the top sections since only those really show and I'm very happy with how that looks. You can see the bare poles in the interior of the teepee, though, so if that bothers you, painting might be the way to go.

You are nearing the finish line! The last thing to do is just put it all together. The easiest way I found to do it was this:

1) Connect the poles - 3 lengths of PVC each, and make sure one of the lengths with a hole drilled is on the end of each of your 6 poles.

2) Thread the ribbon through the holes connecting all 6 poles and tie loosely, wrapping around all the poles several times where the holes are drilled.

3) Slide the fabric teepee cover over the bundle of poles.

4) Insert the ends of the poles into the PVC caps which are glued into the cover's bottom hem. Make sure to do this in an order that makes sense, as in, the poles are tied together in a circle at the other end so mixing them up at the bottom makes it really awkward and tough to put up.

5) Stand your teepee up and spread out the legs. It can be helpful to have a second person to hold the teepee cover up and in place while you do this. Once you're happy with the set-up, wrap the top ribbon tightly around the fulcrum (where all the poles converge at the top) to secure the poles. 

The Matching Bag:

For me, the bag is what puts this project over the top as an awesome must-do. Lets be honest, the teepee is kinda huge when set up and I love being able to easily store it away in a cute bag that fits on a closet shelf. For your bag, simply take 1 yard of fabric (or 2 half yards of fabric, as I did) and fold outside-in (pretty pattern sides against eachother) and sew to connect on 3 sides, leaving one short side open. Hem the raw edges of the short side and turn the bag rightside out. Attach a length of ribbon by its center to one side of the bag, about 3" from the top. This will serve as your closure for the bag.

That's it! I am seriously LOVING having this in the house. Felicity crawls in and out of it all day long and the cats do too. Its such a fun, ageless toy that I know she'll enjoy for years. I even made another one for my niece Nora's birthday, and she is loving hers too!

Isn't my niece just about the sweetest thing on two legs!? I was able to ship this gift to her all the way to Oklahoma in a flat rate shipping box since the teepee can be packed away into such a compact space! LOVE IT! :)

Anyway, I hope you have all enjoyed this project and please feel free to message me on Facebook or comment on the blog here with any questions or to troubleshoot! Please send me pictures of your project if you decide to make a teepee for your little one! Thanks for reading... If you need me, I'll be in my teepee ;)

xo Allison