3.Attach a measuring string. For the next step, you’ll need a piece of string at least 12 feet long. Tie one end of the string around a marker. Measure out 101/2 feet on the string between the marker and the other end. Fix the end of the string in place right on the X-mark using a peg into the ground, or use a helper to hold it in place. If you did a good measuring job, then the marker should now just about reach both the side edges and the bottom edge. If not, adjust the length of the string.

4.Mark the outline. Once it is the correct length, carefully and gently run the marker from the top edge to the bottom on the left, and back up to the top on the right until the lines hit the top edge of the cloth. You should end up with a large C on its side. Leave the string in place for now. The spots where the line touches the top edge should be approximately 1-1/2 feet away from the side edges. With a piece of paper, label one of these spots A and the other B.

5.Make the smoke hole. Shorten the string so the marker is now 1-1/2 feet away from the X and draw a circle around the X. The circle should be 3 feet in diameter. This circle will form the smoke hole.

6.Mark the cut-away. We have too much canvas to create the conical shape so we’re going to have to remove some. Place a straight piece of timber from the center X to A and draw a line. Next lay the timber from X to B and draw a second line. Later on, we will cut out the resulting triangle.

7.Draw your doorway. Now move back to the bottom edge, and from that initial halfway mark you made, make a mark 1-1/2 feet to the left, and a second one to the right. This will give you the bottom of a 3-foot-wide doorway. Mark the left side C and the right side D with paper. Place the straight piece of timber so it connects the center X with C. Measure 5 feet up (or more or less depending on how big you want your doorway to be) from point C and draw a line. Place the timber along X and D and measure out 5 feet again (or whatever length you had chosen for point C) and draw the second line. Connect the top of the two lines together with one line parallel to the bottom edge to form the top of the doorway.

8.Now that all the lines are drawn, cut out the pattern we’ve created with scissors. Keep the cutouts for later use.

Sew the Canvas

1.Pin the canvas together. You will now sew the two edges (running from each corner to the smoke-hole) together to form a conical canvas. Fold both the left and right side over so they meet in the middle and overlap by 1/2 inch. Pin the overlap in place.

2.Make the seams. Place the pinned seam in the sewing machine and stitch the seam the same as before by first sewing a line from top to bottom with a long stitch, then folding the seam over on itself and running two long lines of neat, small stitches from top to bottom.

3.Hem the edges. Now that we have the basic shape, we can extend its durability with the little extra effort of hemming all the edges. Simply go around the long circular edge and fold the canvas over twice so you have a 1/2-inch-wide, three-layer thick “band” running along the entire edge. For the inner edges, such as the smoke hole and doorway, it’s best to use some edging ribbon to sew over the edge. Instead of ribbon, you could cut the leftover material into 1-1/2-inch-wide strips to do this too, but then you’ll have to wait until after we’ve created the door flap, which is the next step, as you will need the leftover material to do so.

Making the Door

1.Cut and hem the door flap. From the big, triangular leftover piece that originated from the top edge, create the door flap. If you deviated from my door measurements, you’re going to have to adjust things a little, but if not, then measure out a trapezoid shape where the bottom is 4 feet wide, the sides 5-1/2 feet long and the top 2-1/2 feet wide. Hem all but the top using the double fold we used around the bottom edge of our tent canvas.

2.Cut out strips for channels. To prevent the door flap from falling through the doorway, you need to create three horizontal channels into your door flap for pushing sticks through. (An alternative is to sew two zippers from top to bottom on both sides of the doorway to allow you to close the door. If you intend to do this, give a bit of thought as to how you place the zippers so that the door flap overlaps the zippers by a good 2 inches on both sides to prevent water ingress.) These sticks will help the canvas door lie flat over the entrance. With more of the excess canvas, cut three 6-inch-wide strips with a length of 4 feet, 1 inch. Take the first strip and center it along the bottom edge of your trapezoid door. You will notice that the strip sticks out by an inch or so on both sides of the door as the strips are purposefully longer than the door is wide. Hem each end 1/2 inch so they line up with the side of the door flap.

3.Create your first channel. Next, place the strip back on the inside of the door flap so that the two folded-over edges are visible and the strip lies about 1/2 inch above the seam along the bottom edge of the door. Pin it in place and sew the bottom edge. Now, fold the strip up so that the seam is hidden and fold under the last 1/2 inch of the top edge and pin it in place onto the door, about 3 inches above the first seam. Sew a line of stitches along that fold too. You should now have a channel you can push a straight stick through once the lavvu is erected.