How to Make Canopies

An outdoor canopy provides shade and cover from the elements. They're simple and inexpensive to make and easy to take down. Choose a large piece of canvas, a tarp or drop cloth from the hardware store or a weather resistant length of fabric for making a canopy. Using adjustable tent poles allows you to change the height of your canopy. These instructions for how to make canopies work for either a free-standing canopy or one that's attached to the house or other structure.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Fabric
• Grommet tool and grommets
• Screw eyes
• Poles
• Clothesline
• Tent stakes

1. 
    

   Make a mark at all four corners of the drop cloth. Lay the two parts of the grommets on either side of the drop cloth at the marks and use the grommet tool to tap them together. Cut out the fabric in the center of the grommet.

2. 
    

   Attach a heavy-duty screw hook to the house or a post at one side of where you want the canopy to hang. Measure the distance to where the other side of the canopy will be hung and attach a screw hook.

3. 
    

   Make a loop with a 5 inch length of clothesline through the two grommets that will go over the screw eyes. Slip the loop over the screw hooks and measure the distance to where the other end of the canopy will be staked.

4. 
    

   Drive tent poles or bamboo poles into the ground and slip the grommets over the tops of the poles or make loops from clothesline to slip over the tops of the stakes.

5. 
    

   Tie clothesline to the tops of the poles and angle it to the ground about 4 feet from the base of the poles. Drive stakes into the ground and tie the line to the stakes. This adds support to the poles and prevents them from falling inward if they work their way out of the ground.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure you choose grommets that will be large enough to go over the end of the poles. Make a free-standing canopy using poles at each corner. This is easier if you have four people to hold the poles steady as you hang the canopy and the tension lines. Tie strips of fabric to the staked clothesline to prevent people from tripping over it.
• Take the canopy down in stormy weather.

References

• Canopy Making Instructions

Resources

• Selection of Grommets and Grommet Tools
• Source for Canvas Drop Cloths
• Patio Design Ideas