Butterick 4251: Tee Pee

After buying the supplies about 2 1/2 years ago, I finally made a tee pee for S* & K*.

I never told them I was making it, just that I was making something for them to play in.  The pvc pipes sat along the garage wall, always reminding me that I hadn't made it yet, taking up space leaving DH & the kids wondering why on earth did I buy 6 pvc pipes.

I sewed it Thursday (March 5th) while the kids where in school and finished it up that night after they were in bed.  I told them I was making them something to play with over their four day weekend and S* almost immediately asked if it was what the pvc pipes were for.  S* helped me out with drilling holes in the pvc pipes without knowing what they were for before bed.

It wasn't hard, but a bit time consuming sewing all the panels together, pipe casings and hems.  I read online beforehand to see if anyone had any problems sewing it.  There was some mention of trouble with the top casing for the ribbon to pull it tight around the pipes, but I didn't run into that problem and think it was a misunderstanding of how the casing was supposed to be sewn/function.  I'm glad I was aware of the problem though, it probably helped me not have a problem with it.  I like to read online about patterns sometimes before I sew them to see what others have said, to see if there are any issues I should watch out for.  And that's often how I come across patterns I want to buy, seeing a picture of something someone made with a particular pattern.  Or I get ideas on how to alter patterns I already have.

I'm a pattern person when it comes to sewing, just like I'm a recipe person for cooking.  But with sewing I'm becoming more confident about altering patterns I already have to get a new look without buying another pattern similar to what I'm looking for.

I bought some of the cheapest plain cotton fabric (and used a coupon) I could find at JoAnn's since the tee pee uses almost 12 yards of fabric.  The pattern is Butterick 4251.

Funny, or not so funny at the time, I was about 1 1/2 inches short of the fabric needed to cut out the last panel, so I had to improvise and sew a large scrap onto the fabric to have enough to cut it out.

I saw some tee pee pins on pinterest by a friend and that motivated me to finally make this one.  There are lots of fun ideas online.  I decided on plain with the intention of decorating it with Indian symbols with fabric paint or fabric appliques.  But I may never get to that, and while it is extremely plain and simple looking, I'm happy with it how it is.  Maybe I'll add a string of lights to the inside.