How to Sew a Window in a Teepee

Teepee windows need a covering flap.

A teepee is a conical home that nomadic Native Americans lived in on the Great Plains of America. The teepee was convenient for the tribes who followed the buffalo as the animals searched for food. Teepees did not typically have windows but sewing a window into it is just like sewing the door. A window in a teepee wall would be built round just as the door is, with a flap to keep out the weather.

Things You'll Need

• Teepee
• Leather piercing needle
• Thread
• 6-inch leather strips
• 2-foot-by-2-foot leather flap
• Leather cutting scissors
• 2-1/2-foot round pole

Instructions

1. Cut a round hole 1 1/2 feet in diameter in the leather of the teepee while the canvas is laying down flat. Choose carefully where you want the window before cutting. The window should not be so high you cannot reach it to pull down the flap and it should not be so low that it could be another door.

2. Fold the edge of the window hole toward the inside of the teepee 1/2 inch. Sew down the fold with a needle and thread using a straight, even stitch.

3. Lay the 2-foot-by-2-foot flap over the window hole and sew the top 1 inch above the top of the window hole. Sew the top side of the flap to the teepee.

4. Sew two 6-inch leather strips to each end of the top side of the flap.

5. Sew the free end of the flap around a 2-1/2-foot long pole so that an even amount of wood is exposed on each end. Sew the pole into the flap loose enough for the pole to be removed when the teepee needs to be dismantled and moved.

6. Set up the teepee. To open the window, tie the ends of the pole with the leather strips on the top of the window. To close the window, either remove the pole or untie the leather strips.

Tips & Warnings

• Try other ways to open the window, such as a pulley system, to make the teepee more personalized.

• Secure the window during storms to keep the flap from moving.

References

• Tipi: Instructions for Setting Up a Sioux Tipi
• Tipi: Tipi Farbics