Making a Door for a Pop-Up Camper
Ah, the door. The bane of my existence. And one that went through a million design changes.
Brooke did not have a front door besides the one that was part of the hard outer body. I hauled the camper to our local recycling place to see if they had any doors in that would fit into the door guides, but, alas, the two doors she had were too short AND too narrow. There was no way to finagle one of theirs to fit. So there went my first idea and hope!
I started searching online for tutorials on building a pop-up camper door. I’ll save you the trouble; there aren’t any. And looking at my existing tracks, I was hitting a wall on making one up on my own. (or maybe hitting a door? ;) )
After talking to my neighbor about my struggle, she mentioned canvas. And it got me thinking - if the entire body of the tent was canvas, why couldn’t my door? My browsing on Pinterest changed again and I started to get ideas for building a canvas door.
I decided to try painter’s drop cloth. I found one for “small projects’’ at Home Depot that seemed to be thick enough to not be see-through, and it even boasted to be “water repellent"! I purchased it for about $8 and took it back home and tried it out…if I folded it in half, it was just the right width (plus it would add another layer of material), so I trimmed about 8 inches off the bottom. I thought, with my color scheme to be blues and greens, that it would be fun to do a zig-zag stitch all the way around the canvas to seal up all the sides.
My first try had me tucking the excess canvas into the camper, but I realized that if there was a rainstorm, the water would run right down and into the camper!! On to Design #2 of the door (or maybe #6 or #7…)
Before I could keep revising the door, I needed to figure out how to hang it. I took an old piece of wood, stained it the same color as my table, and installed cup hooks every 3 inches. I put grommets in the top of my canvas every three inches and was able to hang my door easily. From Sawdust 2 Stitches, I got inspiration from her RV curtains and made leather straps to hold up the rolled canvas (I don’t use a rod when I roll up the door - the material is stiff enough to keep a decent roll to the top!). I screwed the strap into the wood and it is now a permanent fixture, but the canvas door can be removed for transportation. I chose blue leather to go with my theme, and purchased the hardware (the snaps and O-ring) at my local hardware store.
In Design #1, I used velcro on the canvas and on the door to secure it shut and to close the gaps. But, even with Gorilla glue, the velcro wouldn’t stay on the canvas. And when the door was opened, it “shut” so fast and so secure…I could see that it would be frustrating going in and out of it. So then I came up with magnets. I first tried to make a “sleeve” to secure to the canvas, but it was getting annoying to keep track of, so I opted to make pockets for each of the magnets. About half way through I realized that I needed to begin paying attention to the magnets since one side repelled and one attracted and my pockets did have a “pretty” side and I wanted those to be the ones showing! Vanity, right? LOL.
I had decided to secure the door on the outside of the pop up camper, by using command hooks and grommets. This keeps the door taut (and the rain on the outside of the tent!). But gaps were now large between the door and the tent canvas. I was hoping the magnets would help shut these gaps.
The magnets did a decent job in keeping the gaps to a minimal! I hand-sewed each pocket into the tent canvas and the door canvas. I kept the knots and ugly seams on the side less likely to be seen, and kept the outer knots pretty. I then made sure my knots weren't going anywhere by using a trick I utilized in my cross-stitching days and painting clear nail polish over the knots.
My final tweak to the door was a privacy curtain on the inside. This is meant as an additional layer of privacy and to keep cooler air out overnight. I had some curtains packed away, so I punched in grommets so we could hang the curtain on the hooks for the night and store it during the day. It can also double as a black-out curtain!
My first trip out will be the test for this door! I sprayed waterproofing over the whole thing - so now to see if the concept works. If not, I guess it’s on to Design #… I don’t even know anymore; I’ve lost track on how many revisions this has gone through!
I do eventually want to put a screen on the inside (I even have the materials already as well!). But first to test the door and iron out any bugs. ;)
UPDATE: On our first camping trip, the door was a success. But, there was no rain, so I guess that portion of the test will have to wait… ;)
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