To begin, I made a lot of sketches and brainstormed a ton of ideas for what I wanted to make. These ideas ranged from a blow up house to a tent on wheels to a hanging fort. All of my ideas required different materials and different techniques. However, after reviewing my idea with Kirk, I ultimately decided to go with the tent hammock idea, where the user can either choose to be out in the open with a mesh covering or alone with the solid fabric covering (as seen in the last picture).
I then began to make the prototype, which was done using muslin, straws, and yarn.
Most of the pieces I used were different sized rectangles, with one semi-circle.
I used a french seam along the sides of the hammock to string the support yarn through:
After sewing the semi-circle to the top and bottom pieces, this is what it looked like from the inside:
To make parts of the tent hold its form, I fed thin straws through the seams:
I then cut out a small door to represent where the door with a zipper closure would be in the real thing. Once the small-scale prototype was sewn and constructed, this is what it looked like:
This is the fabric I plan on using for the majority of my project. It is a shower curtain that has not been used ever as a shower curtain in my house but we have had it for years and years and I’ve pinned it into so many dresses that I feel like it represents my growth as a designer and it would be cool to put it to a real use. Also its strong enough to withstand the weight that it will have to hold:
In my sketchbook, I drew out the patterns and what they would look like, and I created the triangle pattern.
These are the fabrics I bought to become the mesh part of the hammock and the covering. I also bought a 60″ zipper.
This is what the final product looks like:
Picture 1: with the outer cover layer zipper up
Picture 2: with the outer cover layer unzipped
