Make your own Teepee ~ how to make your teepee or wigwam ~ made by Yours Truly with a free tutorial & instructions.

The window of a gorgeous local toy shop often stops me in my tracks as I gaze in awe at all the wonderful things they have on display to entertain The Little People of this world. A few months ago I spied a lovely teepee in the window, but it cost £80!!! Yet again I found myself thinking I could make one just as nice (if not nicer, for the personal touch) for a fraction of the price. Yes, my seams might be a bit wonky, and yes, the poles may not all be exactly the same height, but it does the job nicely.

Ever since then I’ve been meaning to make this and have been ‘designing’ it in my head for a couple of weeks. I put it off a few times when I couldn’t decide on a material to use (the one I really wanted to use was too expensive, and the ones I could afford weren’t quite right), but then I remembered I had an old, unlined plain white cotton curtain stored away for exactly this kind of project. I’d used the other half to cover my Little People’s wardrobe which I’ve painted with colourful spiders, bees, caterpillars, flowers and the like, so it wasn’t going to be used as a curtain again. It had, however, found its calling as a modern-day buffalo-hide Ersatz for my Little People’s teepee.

I struggled with the poles bit and ended up taking away two of the original six I’d made. The instructions below are for my original design, but I’ve included *[in italics] what I ended up using. They two don’t differ wildly though.

Materials needed for teepee/wigwam 

* My original fabric was 275cm x 140cm and was more than enough to make the entire teepee including straps and loops etc. From this I cut;

6 cloth fabric trapezoids (triangles with a flat top) – each of mine measured 56cm x 14cm (including seam), and 145cm height (this is measuring the straight height, not the sloped edges).

Extra fabric for loops – I used 24* loops – each measured 11cm x 6cm (*although in the end, I only used 18 of these).

Extra fabric for straps

Also…

Fabric or felt for decoration.

4* Dowels – I used four dowels of 12mm x 240cm, which I cut down to 160cm (and then used the remaining 4 x 80cm dowels to make a further 2 x 160cm rods so I had six. These two joined ones were too bendy and I realised I didn’t need all six and ended up using just four dowels).

Length of cord for tying the poles together. More than you’d think you’d need!

How to make your own teepee / wigwam

1) Measure each panel and mark seam lines.

2) Cut out six panels. On each panel, fold and press seams and pin in place. If you are hemming the bottom and top edges, then stitch these now (I was using an old curtain so these edges were already hemmed for me).

• You could embellish now (which would be easier if you are stitching on any of your decorations) or once the teepee is complete (step 13) to give you a better idea of where everything goes. Remember, if you do decide to embellish it now, that one of the panels will be split to form the opening, so don’t add anything to this that goes across the entire panel.

3) Measure and cut out your loops. Fold long edges in on themselves to create seams and press. I didn’t bother stitching them as they would be out of sight and out of reach, but you could sew these closed if you prefer.

4) Lay two panels (wrong-side-up) side-by-side and fold the pressed seams up on themselves to form a double seam. Pin in place.

5) Take four loops and, with the raw length facing the seam of the panels, pin them in place at equal distances along the panel seam, with their edges overlapping the panel seam.

6) Stitch along the length of the panel. I did this twice for each panel seam – once right next to the fold of the two panels, and once right next to the edge of the seam.

7) Close off the bottom loop to create a pocket.

Repeat steps 4-7 for another four of the six** panels (leaving the front panel for later). [**I ended up not using the side loops on the seam between the two panels on each side, but did use the ones at the top for the cord] 

8) For the sixth panel (the front panel), cut a slit in the middle from the base up to about 100cm to create an opening.  Fold back the seams on either side, press and pin in place before stitching.

9) Cut out a small square or rectangle of material and fold seams in on themselves so there is  one ‘clean’ side. Stitch the seams down, then stitch the material over the top of the slit around the edges and in an X shape to strengthen the area.

10) Make four straps for tying up the front of the opening. I did this by folding one length of fabric in on itself twice, (so two raw edges met in the middle), then fold again (so the raw edges are tucked away inside). Press and stitch in place, and cut into four (stitching the eight ends to prevent fraying).

11) Sew the two sets of straps in place onto the inner edges of the opening (making sure they’re opposite each other and long enough to tie together).

12) Attach the final panel, with loops, in the same way as before and turn the whole teepee the right way round.

13) Decorate if desired. I used left over felt from the hobby horses I’d made to make a few designs ~ bison, moose and a plant. I used fabric glue for these. You can click on the gallery pictures below for a larger image.

14) Thread the dowels into each of the set of four loops, and splay out at the top, pushing the dowels out at the bottom.

15) Thread the cord through the six loops at the top of the teepee and pull tight. Wind the rope round and round the dowels, weaving in and out making sure it’s nice and secure. If you’re planning on leaving the teepee up permanently, you could also use a hot glue gun to secure this further.

You’re done! Made By Yours Truly. Sit back and let your Little People at it!

Fabric Tee Pee/Wigwam

Measuring loops.

Pinning loops to one side of a panel

Loop on left-hand side of each panel at top.

Loops attached to left-hand side of panel

Panels and loops stitched together

Inside view of four panels.

Front panel with hemmed opening

Small square for extra strength around split

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