DIY Teepee

Make your own tepee with materials from your hardware store.

Tepees were once used along the prairies by Native American tribes. The portable structure allowed the natives to pack up camp quickly and move on due to changing seasons, to follow herds or to seek safety. Tepees provide protection from inclement weather and ventilation for indoor fires. Large tepees offer sleeping room for several people. You can make your own tepee with supplies available at your local hardware store or garden nursery.

Things You'll Need

• 10-by-20 foot canvas
• 12 poles, 13 feet long
• Scissors
• Rope
• Sewing needle
• Sewing thread

Instructions

1. Cut the 10-by-20 foot piece of canvas into a semicircle shape with your scissors. Create smoke flaps by making two V-shaped cuts near the top of the canvas.

2. Trim the shorter ends of the canvas to form an inward semicircle, which will form a circular doorway when wrapped around the tepee frame.

3. Pinch a cone-shaped section of canvas at the end of each smoke flap and sew it together by hand, creating a pole pocket.

4. Stitch a piece of rope along the entire bottom length of the canvas. Form 10 equally spaced coils, or loops, that will hold the tent poles in place.

5. Make a tripod with three poles. Secure the top portion of the tripod, where the poles meet, with rope. Place seven more of the poles onto the tripod to form the tepee frame. Secure all of the poles together with rope.

6. Spread the piece of canvas over the tepee frame. Slide the poles into the rope loops at the base of the canvas. Secure the canvas to the top of the tepee frame with rope. Stretch out the canvas by extending the poles. Push the poles into the ground as far as possible.

7. Prop the last two poles into the sewn pockets on the smoke flaps to keep them open inside the tepee.

References

• Inquiry: Teepee Plans 10 Feet