Kite fabric in colors of your choice (Schikarex, Chikara or Skytex 40. to use as a rulerĪ 1 meter ruler, preferably a bit heavy so it doesn't move around too much I made plenty.)Ī very long very straight piece of wood, aluminium profile, etc. Plenty of space, it'll take up quite some in the living roomĪ seam ripper (unless you somehow manage to not make any mistakes. If you're doing this, i can only recommend seeking out someone who has done this before, they might save you a lot of money (I saved over 200$ by going to the shop and not just ordering it online, because they got me the right things first try)Ĭutting table (preferably a large metal sheet) I went and bought all my materials in a kite shop, and got some good advise on the way. I went all in, and that's necessary for a project like this. I would hate to spend so much time making it, only to have it fail because i wanted to save a few bucks. I have spend more than 400$ on materials alone, and about a month making it. Step 2: Materials and Toolsįor a project this size, i have to stress one thing - this is not a cheap project. Remember that these are the kites dimensions! You need to add a sewing seam - a 5-10mm extra bit all around the edges that are going to have a seam, such that the kite ends up with the right dimensions. I am pretty sure this kite is scalable to some extend, so go nuts with the calculator if you want it in a different size. I made a little program that could calculate the bridle line lengths for me, and the result can be seen in the table. This is relevant to know, for when you make the top panels. The curved top edge is probably the only even dimension, it's a flat 3000mm. It's designed so that the minimum amount of fabric is wasted. The triangles on the bottom for example, are 1450mm, and the big upper piece can be made of just three pieces stitched together forming one big nearly 4,5x3 meter rectangle. There will always be some waste, so making it slightly smaller meant that i didn't have to stitch too many panels together.

The reason i didn't make it an even 3x4,5 meters, is that the rolls of fabric come in 1,5 meter width. I have made a few pictures that i hope explain all the measurements. Much of the designing was intuition and luck, but it turned out quite good, so I'd say i got away with it. I based the design on existing kites, the parafoil is a very known and 'easy' shape, but my only help was pictures of other kites. This type of kite pulls really hard, and is really stable in the wind. The design is a Parafoil, a soft cell-based kite, with a lot of bridle lines to keep it in place. This was new ground for me, i have never made a kite from scratch myself, so it was rather interesting figuring it out along the way. The design is nothing revolutionary, but since i had the time, i decided to make it from the ground up.

Large box kite