a diy a-frame tent is my fave
from guest contributor Kelly Smith
When Beck was born, I had this grand idea to make him a teepee. I spent a ridiculous amount of time and effort failing miserably at the teepee making. So for Margo, I knew I wanted to make something simple, something she could grow with, something that was easy to store and assemble, and something that was Mel’s style. So here it is, an A-frame tent done my way!
Materials: a flat bed sheet, four 48″ long 1x2s, three 48″ long 3/4″ dowels, a drill and 3/4″ hole saw, sewing machine or fabric glue, pencil, and tape measure.
Instructions:
- A-frame: in each 1×2, drill a hole centered at 4″ from top and 1.5″ from the bottom
- sheet: cut (along the long dimension – think hotdog) the sheet to 48″ wide, slip one of the dowels through the hemmed edge at the top of the sheet, assemble the A-frame and pin the other end of the sheet to fit the frame tautly, disassemble the frame and hem the pinned, bottom edge (make sure to leave enough space to allow for the dowel to slide through), as well as the long edge.
Time: drilling the holes and assembling the A-frame takes about 15 minutes. If you want to sand and paint the boards as I did, allow for an extra hour. Measuring the sheet, pinning and either sewing or gluing the hem took me about 45 minutes. Giving this project a total of 2 hours. But I think I probably spent at least an extra two hours deciding on fabric and paint colors. Only the best for that little Margo!
