Had we been out and about this week around here, we would have needed that awning that is at least now sitting here in the form of raw materials. That’s one step closer to a real awning than we had last week. The fabric came yesterday. Here’s the plan.

Materials needed: 24-26 feet of aluminum or fiberglass tent pole(s), keder rail rope, 200d waterproofed polyester, 20mm wide nylon webbing, tent stakes and some rope.

We found two 13′ tent poles on ebay. They will need to be joined together at the top to make a continuous pole that will fit through the top front sleeve of the awning.

I tracked down the fabric on ebay f0r $4.50 a yard, and bought 8 yards of a gray for the top and 8 yards of black (may have extra of this) for the sides. The fabric arrived rolled, not folded, which is excellent – no creases. It is already waterproofed. I am thinking it will need to be coated again at the seams after sewing to maintain water resistance.

Tent poles and black fabric

A sailing supply company, Sailrite.com has  keder rail rope. ( See close up photo below to see what it looks like.) This will be sewn across the top of the awning nearest the trailer, and slides through the keder rail track that runs across the front top of the trailer. It fit perfectly, and the tape is still enough so that threading through the entire length should be easy enough.

keder rail rope

I will post updates as I begin work on this. I am using photos of other awnings as a guide. And the good news is, winter may be over, for real and finally – looks like this upcoming week we will be heading out to the Cayuna Mountain Bike trails by Crosby, MN for another trial with the trailer and some fun.