These fabric teepees are so expensive in the shops, so I decided to tackle one myself for my littlest daughter's first birthday. I found a teepee pattern on the McCalls website, and it was simple to follow. Ikea has such a fantastic range of affordable, heavy drill cotton, it was so hard to choose. I got something with an evenly distributed pattern, so that it didn't matter which way I lay the pattern pieces down as I cut it out. I found some clear sewing plastic (there's probably a technical name for that, but I don't know what it is) and even made windows in two panels!
I bought timber dowel lengths at the local hardware shop (they even cut them to size for me) and painted the tops pretty pastel colours using old housepaint samples. There are rubber stoppers on the tops and bottoms of the dowel to stop it being rough and scratchy, and also to help them grip the floor.
I even bought a torch, and hung it upside down from the top of the dowel, so that the teepee is illuminated, and the kids have loved this (until the torch runs out of battery, which happens quickly because they never remember to turn it off of course).
To use the teepee you just prop open the dowel until the panels of fabric are taut. Putting it away is so simple too, you just scoop it together in your hands and I store it leaning upright in a corner, so it's not in my way when the kids aren't playing with it. I loved this project! Kate.
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