OK. So Brad and I took a while to do this project. Actually, I thought of the idea (tents to go around the boys' bunk beds), went on the internet and started researching (not a ton out there), told Brad about it, he came up with an idea, bought materials for it the same night, and built most of it. I had some catch-up to do. Here is Eli looking up at the partial frame that Brad built.
After lots of researching, I decided on a plan and a type of material to use. I decided to use panels rather than a solid piece because I thought it would be too hot for Aiden for it to be a single piece and I knew he wouldn't want it that dark. I decided to completely jump in and make this as versatile as possible knowing that our boys love tents in general. I bought rip-stop nylon as the fabric because it can handle roughness, should withstand rips/tears/punctures, and can be wiped off and washed. I researched the kind of thread I would need as well as needle.
I learned that cutting rip-stop nylon is challenging because it frays so easily. I thankfully found a YouTube video that showed an alternate way to cut and finish the edges at the same time (I like saving time). I bought a saudering iron for $18 at Home Depot, found some glass to work on (the old insert for the sliding glass door for Bronco) and collected some of Brad's tools. I heated up the iron and cut the material the the sizes needed.
In the meantime, the boys were so super excited about their tents that we had to put up the frame and put something over it. We put sheets for a bit to calm them down yet still keep them pretty excited about the tents.
Just for the record - I am not a sewing expert. In fact, I would barely call myself a beginning sewer. That sounds like I have more skill than I actually do. After some research, I learn that there are different kinds of feet for sewing machines. I knew there were some special ones for zippers but that was all I knew about. Did you know there is a foot that helps keep a straight seam???? Wow. It actually looks like I can sew when I use this. It's amazing! Anyway, for strength, durability, and aesthetics, I needed to create a double hem on the perimeter. The foot to the right is the one that keeps a 1/4 in seam. :)
I needed to roll up the hem and then use plastic paper clip type things to hold it. With rip-stop nylon, you cannot use pins to hold things which makes things a bit more challenging.
Look below at the orange fabric. That looks like a legitimate hem!! Woot woot. So I did that to lots and lots of pieces of fabric.
My original plans were to make panels for each section (2 side panels and 2 end panels for the upper bunk, 2 sides and 1 end panel for the lower bunk). I wanted to there to be a little gap between the sections because I knew the boys would need ventilation and want to see some light. Below is a picture that I took from the top of the stairs of the upper bunk. You can seethe tent draping down a bit. I've also made a larger tent that covers all of the PVC and is more encapsulating but they only like to use that as a very temporary fort.
I put elastic on the corners of the tent pieces along with some velcro. Again, the idea was to make this functional beyond just the bunk bed. It's quick and easy to put up and/or take down. I have experimented with windows to see what my boys like the best. They tend to prefer an opening rather than just a door (I think it's because they are still so young and a little scared of the dark still).
I made rectangle windows at a particular height for both of them so they can see their clock and still easily be able to see if they are allowed out of bed yet.
Each panel is roughly 35 in x 30 in. It works well for us. Some of them have no windows. I also made a huge tent (6 ft x 5ft) that has elastic at the corners but also has numerous loops along the side to help anchor it down when/where necessary. I got the idea from a product called the Fortamajig. It's a neat product (costs about $80) but is not available anywhere right now; not even from the company. That said, I looked at pictures and replicated it somewhat. I like it because you literally need just one anchor point for the tent and then that's it. I'm making pockets on the one I made so that you can just put heavy stuff in the pockets to make it stay down rather than needing stakes or anything. I haven't made a door to their big tent yet but they don't seem to care. We took the panels and connected them to around the dining room table the other night to make a fort. We took the giant tent and draped it over the living room stuff and it was super easy, it actually stayed up and didn't fall down when it was bumped (which happened with our cloth-homemade forts), and I only had one thing to fold up and put away versus lots of sheets/blankets and then clamps, pillows, and other random things to hold the ends of the blankets down. If you have any other ideas how to make this more fun, versatile, etc., please let me know.
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