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By: Jane Wyvern
If you have an outdoor event coming up, you should consider
making your own canopy to provide shelter and shade. An out
door canopy is not only protection from the elements; it also
adds a decorative touch to your wedding, celebration, or festival.
You can even make one for every day use just to perk up your
back yard. It might not be easy to make your own canopy, but
when you’ve finished it, you will proud of your accomplishment,
and glad you took the time to add a personal touch to the
occasion.
In order to make your own outdoor canopy, you will need about
3 yards of outdoor fabric, about 4 yards of border trim or
fabric, six brass grommets, 100 to 200 feet of laundry rope,
and approximately 6 tent poles as needed.
Here’s how you put the above supplies together to create
your own custom outdoor canopy:
Outdoor Canopy Fabric
The best fabric to select is one of natural color which will
let the natural sunlight filter on through. Select a type
of waterproof awning material about 108 inches by 54 inches
in size. Cut the fabric rectangle across the diagonal to create
two triangles of equal size. You can feel free to create your
canopy in any shape you desire, the important point is to
make sure they overlap in such a way that you can hang a chandelier
down through the center.
Festive Border Fabric
Cut your border fabric into 6 strips that are ten inches
wide. Each of these strips should be the same length as one
side of a triangle plus an additional fourteen inches to allow
for turning under the raw edges.
Fold the Strips
Fold over about one inch of fabric towards the center of
each strip along each long side. Press the folded strips with
a hot iron to hold them in place. Your strips are now eight
inches wide. Next, fold the strips in half, wrong sides together,
to make your strips four inches wide. Now, just cover the
edge of the awning triangles with the strips and pin them
into place. Turn the ends under, miter the corners, and use
a sewing machine to run a topstitch through all the layers
along the edge. Follow the instructions from the grommet kit
and place a grommet into each of the corners of your awning
triangles.
Hanging your Outdoor Canopy
If you can find three trees which are arranged in a rough
triangular manner and about 15 feet apart, you can use these
to hang your canopy. The branches need to be high so that
the people can stand and move around under it, so at least
six feet in height.
In order to plan how you want the final outcome to be, spread
the pieces around the ground and arrange them in the manner
you wish it to appear and how the corners will hang down.
Lay two triangles next to each other so the two corners will
overlap 12 inches in the middle. This will form a V which
would make a hook from which you could hang a chandelier.
When you are ready to hang your canopy, take the front of
the triangles and balance them from the same tree across nylon
rope. Crisscross the triangles and secure the backs to separate
trees. Hang one canopy triangle 12 inches higher and use tent
poles to hold up the outside corners or use the poles in place
of trees if needed.
Before raising your canopy, flip the nylon rope over the
tree limbs and tie them snuggly around the trunk of the trees.
If you need to use tent poles then you will need to slip the
top of each pole through corner grommets on the canopy. Then
place a slip knot around the top portion of the tent pole.
Pull the rope tightly to the ground, then secure them to
stakes. Set the stakes around two to three foot away from
poles and trees. Now you will be able to adjust the height
of the canopy simply by pulling on a rope. Remember to make
it high enough to allow people to mill around underneath and
to allow plenty of clearance for candles or cooking implements.
Once you have your canopy in place and secured, you can decorate
it to suit the occasion in any way you please. The ropes will
be beneficial also for hanging decorations as will the tree
limbs. You can put flowers, twinkling lights, or whatever
you desire on your canopy or simply leave it as is.
About The Author
Jane Wyvern is an established freelance writer. You can find
more of her writing at http://www.canopywire.com and http://www.soslawncare.com.
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