Art & Design of Kelli Murray

As promised, here is the tutorial on how I created the tent covers for Rylee’s birthday party.  I used Rubyellens A-frame tent instructions to create the tent/teepee base….but I wanted to create something unique for the covers.  I purchased some simple cotton canvas material from my local fabric store, enough to cover two tents which each called for approx. 46” x 85.5”.  The fabric was actually my only purchase for this project.  All of the other supplies I already had in my home.

What you will need:

- a pair of scissors

- 1 foam sheet (9″ X 12″ sheet from Michael’s)

- spray adhesive

- acrylic paint

- fabric of your choice

I chose to create 2 different triangle patterns for both of my tent covers.  For the first one, I used a compass to create a perfect 5″ triangle on a piece of paper.  This served as my stencil.  I traced 4 of these triangles onto my foam sheet.

I then cut out all of the triangles.  I lined them up on top of one another, and using adhesive spray, I mounted them all together to make a “stamp” of sorts.

*careful with the adhesive!  It’s sticky stuff and should probably be done outside.

I have a lot of acrylic paint on hand, so that is what I decided to use here.  There may be other fabric paint more fitting for this project, but I just used what I had and it worked great!  I generously applied the paint to the underside of my stamp using a paint brush.  If you want a more even application, you can use a foam brush to apply the paint…but I wanted it a bit rough and uneven.

I cut down my fabric to size and folded it perfectly in half, just as it should lay across the top dowel.  I slid a piece of cardboard in between the fabric so my paint would not bleed onto the other side.  Then I began stamping away!  I just eyeballed it, but if you are worried about spacing, use your ruler and lightly mark out a path with your pencil beforehand.  I let the paint dry completely before turning the fabric over and repeating the same process on the other side.  Once everything was dry, I sewed a half inch hem on all the edges.  On each corner, I attached a thin fabric strip that I used to secure the fabric to the frame. Or as Ruby suggests…you can use elastic strips instead.

For my second cover, I repeated the same process only using a 2″ triangle to create an all-over pattern with more negative space.

Obviously, this method does not need to be reserved just for a tent cover.  It could make for a great photo backdrop for a party, DIY napkins or placemats, or even on wood for wall art.

Hope you have fun with this! Let me know it you try it!  Happy Monday!

This entry was posted on Monday, September 3rd, 2012 at 5:44 am and is filed under DIY. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.