Teepees are adorable and add color to a child’s room. Kids love them as they can be their own little hide out, to read, draw, nap or just play in with friends.
There are many different ways to build your own teepee, for example you can use fabric and cross-stitch hoop to make a canopy tepee. You may also use thread and bamboo to make a tepee that does not require stitching. Moreover, you can use fabric and a quilting hoop.
In addition, there are other designs which require plastic pipes and fabric to make a teepee. Materials such as wooden dowels help when making that impressive tepee for kids. You may also add fancy features to the tepee such as doors and windows. This is possible with canopy material. Other materials that you can use include lace and wood. The guide below will help you how to make a teepee for kids so that they can have a whole lot of fun.
Build your own Teepee – Indoor
The procedure below is for a kid-sized teepee that is about 36 by 36 inches in width and 5 feet tall. It is a step by step method of making a teepee. You can also find out how to make a teepee for kids larger or smaller based on your liking. A larger teepee requires longer dowels and more fabric.
A teepee may either require sewing or not. A simple and affordable teepee requires about four dowels. Use of more dowels needs recalculation of the side measurements
Making a tepee is a fun bonding moment between you and your child. To get started on this, you need the detailed instructions below:
- What You Require
- 4 lightweight and wooden dowels. They should measure 6 feet in length and 0.75 inches wide
- Painter cotton canvas cloth that is 9 by 12 feet and leaves room on the sides
- 1.5 yards of cotton cloth which you can also substitute with queen-sized bed-sheets if you want
- Decorative trim that is about 4 yards or a substitute, and ties
- Measuring tape
- Sticky tape
- Pencil
- Procedure
This guide directs you on how to make a teepee with similar dimensions as mentioned above. The first step is to tie the four dowels at the top. The knot should be 9 to 12 inches 
from the top. Spread the base of dowel to width of the teepee that you want. Measure the width and height of choice.
Cut-out triangular shaped pieces of cloth to cover each side of the teepee. The front piece should be shorter because of the door space. Use a ruler, pencil and measuring tape for this work. Measure mark and cut straight lines. Once the pieces are cut, cover the front panel of the teepee with the shorter piece.
Hem the sides of the curtain with a hem size of 0.25 inches double fold. Enhance the inside and bottom edges with the trim.
Place the diagonal side of one of the drop cloth triangles on-top of one of the curtains. Cut the side of the curtain to be parallel to the side angle of the drop-cloth triangle. Do the same for other pieces of curtain.
Using the small drop triangle, pin two pieces of curtain together to have their top boundaries about 0.5 inches above the triangle on the small drop cloth. Move the curtain to match the edges of the small drop cloth triangle and to intersect. Stitch these pieces together.
Fold the tieback rectangular parts along the right sides and sew on one long and one short side. Place the right-side out and press to form a strip portion. Ensure the tie holds the raw edge of the curtain. Do this for all the curtains and ties.
Stitch a small piece of the hook side and attach to the tie back. Take the other loop side on the wrong side of the curtain that is 2 inches from the seam. Lay it vertical to the tie back.
You can then decorate the top half on the front side. Use symbols such as a heart-shaped material, a bunting banner or any other emblem. Stitch it to the upper front side. This is also your opportunity to express what you want your kid to always know. Painting the teepee is also another way to get your kids involved or make it look more interesting.
Seam all the triangular sections together to bring out the pyramid shape of the tent. Each stitch is going to be a covering for the dowels. The panels become attached at the sides where the triangles are.
Line the upper and lower side of the panels on the right-side of the material leaving a 0.5-inch ridge allowance. When you connect the pieces, you will have four set of stitches and four pieces connected. Align both sides of the drop cloth as you darn them together.
You can then choose to leave raw edges, serge, hem or zig-zag the top of the tee pee. After this is done, turn the inside of the teepee out and fold each corner right sides together. Seam about 1.5 inches from the edges to form a casing for the dowels. Do it four times from top to bottom to enclose each of the four dowels. This makes the interior of the teepee pleasing.
Insert the dowels into the four corners and tie the peaks together. Place one at a time into the casing. It is easier to start at the bottom towards the top. When all the dowels are in place, put the tent upright and organise the dowels at the top. Link them with rope or twine. There should be approximately 10 inches of dowel protruding from the top of the teepee. Finally, there you have an operational teepee.
Note: This plan is just a summary of a more detailed plan that can be found at Diy Mommy here… thanks for the inspiration.
- When Done
Confirm that the tepee is secure enough so as not to fall. Tee pees add fun to kids play time moments. Put together a tepee that is sizable enough to accommodate all the kids. Also consider the space that you have indoors so that you have a tepee that suits fits.
Nice teepees are also re sizable and can be folded. It is a great surprise to make a teepee for your child. A lot of creativity goes into making teepees. A teepee adds fun to the child’s life and contains the child from engaging in other destructive behavior.
With a teepee tent, you encourage your child to be more creative at play or reading. A tipi tent also adds to the décor of the child’s room and is an enjoyable project to engage in. It may take you as little time as an hour and at a cost of roughly $100 to have a complete tee pee, depending on how complicated you choose to make it or the quality of materials used.
So here you have it you now know how to make a kids teepee from simple materials and with little expertise.
There are plenty more great teepee designs online that you can check out for a different style: Click on images for other designs.
