sewing together loads of picknic blankets to make a Bell tent carpet...

[missmakesstuff]

...you know, those foil backed ones? 4 Sewn together to make two 3m x 2.6m rectangles, then cut around the edge and hemmed to form a semi circle, then attached together around the pole with velcro to make a big carpet.

Will it work? has anyone ever done it? See, I would love to buy a proper carpet, the coir ones, but we just cannot fit anything else into the car or the roofbox or the trailer so reckon this will give us a kind of outwell carpet type thing...

I hate the cold floor in the morning, plus think it would give us a bit more warmth in the bitterly cold august we are probably going to have and it will look pretty.

Problem is, I have just bought 4 of them, 4.99 each in Aldi sale, plus there are 4 more there I will get later in another colour for the other half - but I have a horrible feeling it will be very bulky so will just have to get a van.

I bought a ready made version of what you're trying to do, from eBay, for about £20? Folds up quite small too. Just a v big picnic rug. Did make a real difference when we last camped over the bloody freezing Easter weekend...

ooh, will have a look - haven't found a round one though? would have to fit perfectly...

I did this for a bit... It was ok but it looked a little bit rubbish ( my sewing mostly). The aldi picnic rugs are probably better than the ones i used too ( the aldi ones are a little heavier) My tent living space wasn't round though so after a year or so I eventually found that another tents carpet that almost fitted perfectly
Have you looked for tents with round carpets? There must be some. Doesn't the the outwell Hartford xl a round living area?

I did it for a hexagonal-ish tent. It is ok, but looks scruffy despite perfect stitching. I would save up and get a proper one, and use throw thingies in the meantime.

I would save, but is is more the problem that I can't find any round carpets for a bell tent, they are all thick coir matting, which we could never fit in the car, it would be totally ridiculous.

Have bought the picnic blankets so going to give it a go...cost £40 in total so I am hoping it will work! I could have bought fleeces etc and done it as one big one but I think the fabric would cost a bomb, it is 5m diameter.

Wish me luck!

Good luck. I know that mine is lovely and warm. I did mine by hand and had very sore fingers! 16 of the buggers, from pound land (could explain why they look rubbish)

God, by hand! no, sewing machine all the way, I have done two together and went ok, but just so bulky and slippy to sew. Going to lay out the groundsheet if it ever stops raining and lay it out to figure out the size.

The poundland ones are like doormats! must have taken ages!

It took a long time, but it was when I was very heavily pregnant and I found it therapeutic. They have rounded corners so I sewed circles the size of saucers to cover the star shaped holes. I like making life hard for myself clearly. We could now afford a nice carpet, but I cannot bear to chuck it.

I'm thinking of doing this but using micro fleece instead of picnic blankets. It would be lovely and cozy and lightweight. But possibly a bit bulkier. Will have to see how cheaply I can get it too. I love shopping for fabric though - not so much sewing together a 5m circle though!

There is this one which is not coir but more the material you are thinking of. Unfortunately, it appears to be out of stock at the moment and is also black. I wonder if they might get them in in different colours sometime? May be worth enquiring....

www.greenoutdoor.co.uk/products/bell-tent-carpet

Would fleece be a bit slippy underfoot?

I need a Bell Tent! That link looks fab mummypig

I suppose it might be a bit slippy, I hadn't thought of that. It should be ok though as I would have thought it is less slippy than the groundsheet. I'll have a look for other fabrics that are as lightweight. When I get round to doing it I'll report back!

If you have lots of soft furnishings you could make it into a game. I just remember standing on a fleece on a groundsheet and going flying. May be ok if secured with double sided velcro at strategic points. Would be lovely and cosy I am sure.

How about upholstry weight canvas type stuff?

Lots of great ideas, thanks - I did make it, it took all afternoon and a lot of swearing but it looks ok, the blankets did have rounded corners, but I just sewed to the straighter bit - the circles sound much nicer though Valium Queen.

It looks ok! The blankets were stripey cheap ones from Aldi, I couldn't get them all in the same colours so they are in blues and purples, but it looks alright as it all sort of fits, we did lots of cutting and making templates etc to get it right. We do have a massive gap where we ran out, we made sure it is under the airbed though, I am going to try to find another one later. we will take it camping this weekend and finish cutting the sides and then will turn it under with gaffer tape there, as we don't have a room big enough to lay it out to do it, I can sew it later.

I hadn't thought about it being slippy...oops...but it does feel nice underfoot, we also use storage boxes as little tables and might take some sticky velcro and try to anchor it with that. The fleece is good for being wiped clean though, and drying very quickly I guess.

Canvas or upholstery fabric would be best, there are a few tutorials on line. Apparently there is a tent carpet that is bigger than 4m dia, so if cut down works for a smaller bell tent - theres a blog with that being done on it.

I like that other one linked to as well! I will post pics of ours when it is up as it is an excuse for gratuitous bell tent glamping photos

Well done miss I look forward to seeing the pics. Yours should not be slippy as they have a backing.

I admire your industriousness, missmakesstuff, we just put the same blankets down without them being attached etc. Easier to pick up and shake. Was also too mean to pay the actual price for the Outwell tent carpet!

Looking for some advice on goatskin suppliers. I've always found it's the best material for tents but it's hard to find a decent supplier for a steady stream of it in large batches. Anyone got any leads?