Portable Beach Shade

I LOVE THE BEACH! Like a lot. My skin however, is slightly less enthusiastic. No matter how much sunscreen I put on, I still feel like I've had too much sun after a day long seaside session. The Portable Beach Shade is my answer to this burning problem. It's simple to make, lightweight, and allows me to take breaks from the sun while still getting to watch the waves. That's a lot of winning if you ask me.

Wanna get made in the shade? I've got you covered. (snicker) Let's go!

Materials:

• 9' x 12' heavy duty canvas drop cloth
• off-white thread
• 32' of cotton clothesline rope
• (x2) 4' x 3/4" wooden dowels*
• (x4) 3' x 3/4" wooden dowels*
• (x8) 1/2" ID grommets
• (x3) 1/2" Electric Metallic Tube (EMT) set screw couplings*
• (x2) 1/2" EMT to EMT pull elbows*
• (x10) 10-24 1/2" thumb screws
• (x4) long tent stakes

*If you live somewhere known to get pretty windy, I'd suggest going for thicker 1" dowels and 3/4" EMT fittings to make a beefier support frame.

Tools:

• sewing machine
• cutting mat
• exacto knife
• drill with 5/32 drill bit
• grommet setting tools
• block of wood or hard work surface
• hammer
• pen
• sand paper
• philips head screwdriver
• scissors
• whittling/pocket knife

I decided to go the route of using a drop cloth because it's a super easy and inexpensive way of ending up with a large piece of fabric.

It is already the correct length, so it just needs to be cut lengthwise and sewn down one side. Open up the drop cloth and cut the width down from 9' to 6'2".

*I did this ahead of time in our sewing room, before heading to the beach to make everything else!

Double fold over the beginning of the cut edge (approx. 3/8" - 1/2" folds) and sew a straight stitch seam down the entire side, doing the double fold as you go.

And that's it!

If you'd like to add a bit of color to your shade, feel free to dye the fabric or stamp it with fabric paint. There's a lot of fun things you could do to customize. Maybe even tassel trim along the edge! Get wild.

Now it's time to put the grommets in the canvas. These will be used to tie the rope to for securing the shade.

You will be putting one in each corner, one on each side mid way up the length (6" from each end, where it folds in half).

The first step to installing the grommets, is to place one of the halves where you want the grommet to go. Take a pen and trace the interior circle onto the fabric to mark it.

Then, using a fresh blade, cut out the circle with the exact knife.

Place the metal grommet setter (looks like a bit like a metal donut) on your hard work surface.

Put the back half of the grommet (the one with the tallest center) through the hole from the backside.

Place the top half over the bottom half, with the fabric in between them.

Hold the two pieces together in place and put the grommet backside into the metal grommet setter (donut).

Set the grommet punch (long cylindrical metal tool) into the center of the top half of the grommet.

With a few good whacks, hammer the grommet until the tall part has been hammer down and is securing the two halves together without any distance between them. They should be snuggly pressed together with the fabric in between them.

Repeat for the remaining 5 grommets.

*For more detailed grommet setting instructions, please read the how-to that comes with the grommet setting tools.

Using scissors, cut the rope into four 8' lengths.

Tie one of the 8' rope lengths to each corner grommet. If you have a knot you like to use, go for it! If not, follow along with the knot tying steps in the photos above.

It's amazing that the electrical fittings already have set screws in them, but to make it easier to tighten them, we are going to replace the set screws with thumb screws.

Use a phillips head screwdriver to remove the set screws that came with the fittings.

Replace them with the thumb screws, only screwing them in a little bit, so the dowels can be inserted.

The dowels, as they come, are just a little too big to fit into the fittings.

To fix this, they need to be sanded down.

Take a section of sand paper and fold it around one inch of the dowel end, twisting the dowel back and forth. As you sand, keep testing the dowel in the fitting until you are able to inset it with only a small amount of resistance.

*Alternatively, if you have a disc or belt sander, you can use that to make this part go faster. Just be careful not to remove too much material, which would create a loose connection.

Do this to all the ends except one end on each of the 4' dowels.

To make sure that the fittings stay put, we're going to drill shallow holes (3/16") into the dowel ends where the thumb screw will go in.

To find out where to drill, insert each dowel end (except the two un-sanded ends) into a fitting and tighten the corresponding thumb screw down tightly to mark the place. Remove the fitting and drill a shallow hole in each.

This is an optional step. If you'd like to make it easier to push the bottom dowels into the sand when constructing the shade, use a sharp pocket knife to whittle the ends a little bit. (It's the two ends that you didn't sand on the 4' lengths.)

Why? Because whittling is awesome.

If you do this, please just be careful to cut away from yourself. Safety first.

Now it's time to put it all together, starting with the dowel frame.

Connect each 4' dowel to one of the 3 footers using a coupling (straight fitting). Line the thumb screws up so that they end up in the holes you drilled. Then connect the remaining two 3' dowels together with the last coupling.

Attach the pull elbows to the tops of two 3' dowels that are connected to the 4' ones.

Lay out your pieces so that you've created a 'U' shape with the shorter cross section at the pull elbows end.

Attach the shorter cross piece to the uprights via the pull elbows.

Have a friend help you lay out the canvas on top of the frame.

Hook the middle grommets over the top thumb screws of the pull elbows.

Lift the frame up, pick an orientation that makes sense for direction of the sun, and push the frame down into the sand about a foot, or as far as it will go.

While your friend kindly holds the frame upright, one at a time, pull each corner rope away from the frame until it's taught, and tying a knot, use a tent stake to secure each rope down.

TIP: You'll want to make the first rope slightly less taught so it doesn't pull the frame over. Next do one on the opposite side so they are pulling in opposite directions, supporting the frame. Then once the remaining two are secured, go back and tighten that first one.

And voila! You've just created a re-usable and lightweight beach shade that will give you respite from the sun, allowing you to stay and play all day!