|
WHAT YOU WILL NEED PRINCESS TENT
• Main fabric 6.5m of 1.2m-wide, fairly strong cotton
• Contrast fabric 6m x 1.2m-wide • Lining 4.2m (optional) • Curtain tape 4.4m x 6cm wide • Curtain-weight tape 4.2m • Bamboo hoop 45cm in diameter • Ribbon for drawstring 3m of white ribbon or tape • White elastic for pegs 1.5m of 3cm wide elastic, cut into 5 x 30cm lengths • Ribbon to tie hoop 4.2m of white ribbon, cut into 12 x 35cm lengths • Ground pegs 5, from garden centres • Bunting 1.7m to 2m to make 12-18 bunting flags and 6cm (folded in half) of heading.
|
Little kids love tents and so do we! So when we saw the tents Pauline Cheng made for her grandchildren, Noah (4) and Molly(2), we asked her for instructions so you can make them too.
Photography Larnie Nicolson This charming 2.5 m-high girls’ tent hangs on a plastic S-shaped hoop looped through a piece of nylon rope — hanging from a tree branch, over a deck, or from the ceiling of a child’s bedroom. • Cut main fabric into 3 equal lengths and sew together width-wise, for a circumference of around 4.2m. Turn long edges under and sew up. At top, sew drawstring sleeve, for ribbon or tape. Around 50cm from the top, sew curtain tape from one end of width across to the other. Sew the ends joined between the top of the curtain tape to the bottom of the drawstring opening, so this top portion of the tent is closed. • At the bottom end, using the contrast fabric, use 4.2m of fabric in length, 1.1m wide, folded in half. Insert lining, if needed and, turning both edges of other fabric under, sew around the bottom edge of the main fabric between the two edges of the contrast fabric, to give the extra 50cm height. • About 10cm from the bottom sew a line of stitches to make a sleeve for the curtain-weight tape. Then about 45cm from the bottom sew a straight line, to keep the lining in place where you sew the 5 elastic peg loops, evenly spaced. Gather the curtain tape so that it will fit snugly against the bamboo hoop. Insert 12 lengths of ribbon with a crochet hook into the middle layer of loops and use to tie the bamboo hoop in place. Gather the top drawstring and tie ends of ribbon to hold the shape. • Using a template, make the bunting flags from the contrast fabric, allowing a top width of 17cm across with a sewn edge of 15cm narrowing to the tip. Make 12-18 and overlap them. Sew a header in the same fabric 6cm wide, folded in half. Pin the bunting flags in place and then sew to the header. Hand-stitch this onto the outside of the tent over the curtain tape folds. • You can decorate with beaded strings and flowers. |