One of my boys favorite things to do is build forts in the living room with couch cushions and blankets tied to chairs that they can have super hero battles underneath in the glow of their flashlights.

Except Momma’s never been very good at building forts. The blankets are too low to the ground, the chairs fall down and everything always ends up in one giant mess that Momma has to clean up.

Fortunately Momma likes to sew, and her friend Mindy is a wealth of fabulous and creative online ideas.

So I made one that makes us all happy.

What you need

Card Table
Mesh Fabric
2 lengths of different colored fabric (dependent upon the size of your table)
Measuring stick
Marker

How to make it

1. Measure your table.

Measure the table top and length from the top of the card table to the floor (mine was 33.5 inches square on top and 28 inches tall).

2. Cut out your fabric.

TABLE TOP
Adding a 1/2 inch hem allowance on all sides, measure and cut the fabric for the top of the table. I cut mine out of white waffled fabric 34.5X34.5 inches.

FORT WALLS
For three sides of the fort, I cut one piece of mesh fabric  7 inches tall (6 inches finished + 1 inch for hems) by 111 inches long (33.5 inches X 3 sides of the table + 10.5 inches allowing for overlap in the front of the tent and side hem).

I cut a piece of brown fabric 23 inches tall (22 inches finished + 1 inch for hems) by 111 inches long to match the mesh.

FRONT FLAP
For the front flap of the fort I cut a piece of brown fabric 34.5 X 29 inches (the length of one side of the table by the height of the table + 1 inch each for seams).

The fort’s door was cut out of white waffle fabric 12X14.5 inches, and two windows out of the same, 8X8 inches.

3. Seam the walls of the fort together.

I seamed the mesh fabric to the top of the brown fabric and also seamed the seam down. Doing so makes it look a little cleaner on the finished side while also keeping the seam in place.

Hem the bottom of what is now your completed fort walls, and the two sides (which will eventually be facing the front of your fort).

4. Seam the fort walls to the table top fabric.

You should have overlap from the fort walls on both sides of what will become the front of your tent.

5. Create the fort’s front flap.

Seam the bottom (34.5 inches) and both sides (29 inches) of the remaining piece of brown fabric, leaving the unfinished side on top. Seam all sides of the fabric for the door and both windows. Sew them directly to the front flap.

6. Sew the front flap to the fort.

When pinning, order the fabric as follows: table top fabric, front flap, mesh from the walls. Seam the three pieces of fabric together, and then of course seam the seam.

Let the kiddies move in!

As you can imagine we are having lots of fun with our new fort. The boys can easily get themselves (and their stuff) in and out because the front flap is accessible on both sides, Mom can see in through the mesh (all you boy moms are totally tracking with me right now), and its still dark enough inside for flashlights thanks to the thick brown fabric.

Bonus – the couch cushions are undisturbed AND the toys have a {quick} new hiding place.

We’re all very, very happy.