My son has in-home ABA therapy 5 days a week for 2 hours. His therapist asked for gates to prevent him from running during sessions. In my dream world, I would hire a contractor and have them install a pocket gate/door. But in real life I had to come up with something cheap, something easy to put up and take down, and something that doesn’t take up a lot of room so I can store it when not in use. So I made these fabric gates! Final cost was about $25.00 each.

Things you will need for 1 gate:

• 2 yards cotton fabric
• Sewing machine
• Thread
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Iron
• Paracord
• 4 Rope Loops + Screws
• 4 Carabiners

Cut the fabric to the size you want, leaving a bit extra for the seams. Lay right sides together and sew it up, leaving about 10 inches open on the top or bottom to flip it right side out.

Iron the panel flat. Then fold down and iron 1 inch fabric on the top and bottom.

Tie the paracord to a carabiner using a uni knot. Place the paracord inside the fold, and using a sewing foot for piping, sew it in place. Fasten the carabiner side down by sewing the edge forward and backwards several times. Tie a carabiner to the other side (it may take a couple tries to get the right length) and sew that in place. Repeat on the bottom of the panel.

Install the rope loops and you are good to go!

My son is having a therapy session as I am typing this blog up. So far so good! I don’t hear him trying to escape or crying that he is trapped. I keep hearing “Good job Jude!!!” from the therapist, which always makes me happy 🙂