How to make a Bird tent, cheap and easy!

[mickpmc]

One day after purchasing a small bird tent for over $15, I realized how much I was being over-charged for it. These simple tents have only a little fabric and aren't that big--why couldn't I make one myself? With the help of my mother, who used to teach sewing classes, we made our first tent. Here is how we did it.
Supplies:

8" x 18" piece of polar fleece fabric

8" x 5" piece of polar fleece fabric

7" x 4" piece of firm plastic (I cut mine out of an old rubber maid tub lid--be careful cutting!)

Two 3" pieces of cording

2 quick links

sewing machine

Procedure:

Fold the large piece of polar fleece as shown in the following diagram:



This large piece will be the body, or main section, of your tent. Position your plastic piece at the bottom. Next, lay your small piece of fabric over top of that and sew around the outside. Lastly, you sew the top section of your tent--pin the cording into small loops and sew into place. Attach the quick links and you're done!

Note: You can adjust the sizes for bigger or smaller birds. The measurements described below are ideal for anything from budgies to conures. Keep in mind that the plastic piece is your base; just change the measurements from there.

I have made 2 of these tents so far. If you use the plastic, you can put these in the washing machine (cold) and line dry. The polar fleece is safer than the fuzzy tents you see sometimes because it cannot be picked apart easily. Another great thing about polar fleece is that it doesn't unravel, so you don't have to finish any seams. I'm afraid I don't have any good pictures of the tents that I have made, but I'll try and get some better ones up soon.

PICTURE OF WHAT MINE TURNED OUT TO LOOK LIKE
LINK:

http://s779.photobucket.com/albums/yy77 ... RDTENT.jpg


Regards

Mike

[Lilly]

Oh cool I will have to have a go at doing one of these!

[xx_sheena_xx]

this will be very helpful when my IRN destroys the tent i bought her

[mickpmc]

this will be very helpful when my IRN destroys the tent i bought her

Yes, they tend to do that!

[julie]

be very careful with this type of thing. make sure to always check for any damage and loose threads as there has been people saying they have lost a bird to it being hung .