- 1). Begin with a large piece of semicircular canvas (the shape of a half circle). Measure it. The long straight edge needs to be twice as long as its width at the center of the arch. For this guide, we will use the measurements of 20 feet long by 10 feet wide, but you can use whatever size you wish, provided the proportions remain the same.
- 2). Measure to the center point of the straight edge and remove a small semicircular section of the canvas. This will become the point where smoke leaves your tepee from your fire.
- 3). Remove two larger semicircular sections from the straight edge. They need to be placed an equal distance from the outer edge of the canvas on either side of the center notch. When your tepee is erected, these two semicircles will meet to form a full circle, which will be used as an entrance.
- 4). Sew a hem all around the edge of an additional piece of circular-shaped canvas, larger than the space you have created for your entrance. Insert a flexible stick or plastic tube into the hem. This framed canvas will function as your door.
- 5). Make a rope loop and attach it to the door. Once you have erected the tepee, this loop can be hung on the pins used to hold the edges of the tepee together to function as a rope door hinge.
- 6). Cut two triangular-shaped pieces of canvas, approximately large enough to cover the semicircular section you made in the center of the tepee material. Sew them to either side of the cutout, attaching the triangles by the shorter side. These can be used later to form a chimney, leading the smoke from the tepee, and to deflect the rain.
- 7). Sew a rope around the circular edge of the canvas. Attach rope loops onto the sewn-on rope approximately every 12 to 18 inches. This will enable you to peg down the canvas.
- 8). Attach a 2-foot piece of rope to the semicircular space at the center of the straight edge. This rope will secure the canvas to the poles.
- 9). Erect the poles. The poles should be at least 3 feet longer than the width of the canvas. In this example, the poles should be 13 feet in length. Begin by placing the first three poles equidistant apart, forming a tripod. Lash the tripod together at the top, placing the rope slightly higher than the width (10 feet) of the canvas.
- 10
Gather nine more poles. Space them equally apart at the base and lean the top portion into the tripod. Secure all the poles with rope at the point where they intersect. - 11
Attach the canvas to the last pole you put into the tripod with the attached rope. Pull the canvas tightly around the framework until the door pieces meet. - 12
Sew metal grommets down the length of the canvas to protect the material at the seam and then pin the edges together with large wooden pegs. - 13
Peg the canvas down at the base via the rope loops and adjust the poles from the inside until the canvas is taut. - 14
Position two additional poles inside the tepee to control and position the smoke flaps. These act as a chimney to draw the smoke out when a fire is built inside the tepee.
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