Step 1

Before beginning this project you must give a little thought to the look you want to achieve. For this introductory tutorial I did not, for example, finish the wood in the original parasol kit. You may want to paint of stain your handle and at minimum seal it. Select your fabrics and trims with scale in mind.

Select a 3” Styrofoam ball or egg. If you use and egg, as I did, use the wide end. Press the center of the spokes into the center of the Styrofoam just to make a small depression. This allows you to work without having your work slip on you.

Step 2

Lightly spray the spokes with some warm water, or just a fine mist of room temperature water. (I did not soak the spokes as I did not want the spokes to come loose from the top. Once the spokes are damp, carefully and slowly press each down about 1” away, and hold down with the edge of a push pin. Finally, coax the ends down and do the same. Let dry overnight. (I do not know if coaxing with a hair dryer will work, but overnight is perfect.)

Step 3

To achieve the pattern draw a triangle. Draw the base 2" long. Then bisect it. From the center draw the perpendicular line up 2" also. Join that top line to the ends of the base to form the full triangle. About 1/4" from the top draw a semi-circle. Then mark the bottom, the top and the straight grain. The bottom is the base, the top is where the semi-circle is and the straight of grain is the straight line down the center. PLEASE NOTE: Please test fit as I am sure your parasol shape may be slightly different then mine.
Cut the pattern from card or paper and trace with air dry pencil to the fabric. I traced lightly and the lines were nearly gone by the time I got to cut the last one out. If the purple lines are not gone and you glue them, it will be there forever. So cut away on the inside line or let it air dry well.

Step 4, 5 & 6

Center each piece as you go around and glue the pieces to the spokes. Center the top, and the middle down between the spokes. The sides are on the bias and may stretch. Fit it tightly to your shape and glue down to the spokes. Then trim away any excess. (The reason the pattern is not perfect is that you may select a different sized egg or ball and this gives you some leeway for fitting.) As you complete the fitting of each piece of the parasol, pin the tip back down with the push pin.