Do it Yourself Canopies

A canopy can serve many purposes on a camping trip. It can function as your primary shelter or as a secondary sun and rain shelter to protect the kitchen area. To maximize versatility, you want to keep the design as simple as possible. To keep it light, we're going to use lightweight nylon fabric and aluminum tent poles. Once you make your canopy, it can be stored in your pack or car trunk and pulled out, as needed.

Things You'll Need

  • Nylon fabric
  • Sewing machine
  • Snap tool
  • Metal grommets
  • Aluminum tent poles
  • 5mm nylon cord
  • Four metal tent stakes
  • Lighter
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Spread out the nylon fabric in your sewing room. Cut it into a square shape, sized as small or as large as your purposes dictate. (You will fold a 1/2-inch seam all the way around the square in step 2.) Take the fabric outside and run a lighter flame around the edges to melt the fabric and prevent fraying. Take care not to burn the nylon, just melt the edges.

    • 2

      Go back to the sewing room and fold each edge of the nylon in toward the center by 1/2 inch. Sew this seam to reinforce the edges and create a fray-free canopy.

    • 3

      Load the snap tool with a metal grommet and insert one grommet into each corner of the canopy, make sure they are at least 1/2 inch from the edges.

    • 4

      Roll a set of four aluminum tent poles into the canopy along with 12 to 15 feet of 5mm nylon cord and four small metal tent stakes. Use the poles and stakes with the line (fed through the metal grommets) to secure the canopy in a myriad of patterns and methods.