This outdoor art installation is the result of a multistep process that lets kids try a variety of tasks -- tie-dyeing, fabric ripping, and weaving. Creating this screenlike panel takes time, but the results are worth it. Make two or three connecting walls to create a playspace that's open to the sky.
What you'll need
- Tie-dyeing kit
- Cotton bedsheet (we used a queen-size)
- Ball of sturdy twine or thin rope
- Fabric scraps (optional)
How to make it
1. Tie-dye a bedsheet, following the tie-dye kit instructions. After the sheet has been rinsed and dried, tear or cut it into long strips about 3 inches wide.
2. Survey your yard for a good spot for the wall. Between two trees 5 or 6 feet apart is ideal, but you can also anchor your wall to fence posts, bird-feeder poles, or even hardwood garden stakes hammered into the ground and kept upright with additional ropes and tent stakes.
3. Tie one end of a ball of twine about 4 feet up one of the trunks. Loop it around the other tree, keeping the twine as taut as possible. (It's easiest to do this with two people, one at each trunk.) Continue looping the twine around both trunks as shown, passing it back and forth and moving down the trunks as you go. At the bottom, tie off the twine.
4. Weave the fabric strips into the twine, working from the bottom up. Weave any excess fabric back down the twine.
5. For added embellishment, weave in fabric scraps or other materials.
Crafts
