So by finding the very wide canvas I can avoid a heck of a lot of seams which will save huge amounts of trying to wrestle big pieces of canvas through the throat of a normal domestic sewing machine. Any joining seams are going to have to be run and fell seams for strength but means putting the same piece through a number of times.

The thought of trying to hem what will feel like several miles of canvas by rolling it over so the raw edges are covered made me shudder at the thickness of fabric that I would have to force the machine through, so I decided to use canvas tape, this will be sewn onto the edge of the canvas to make good tidy edging to all the pieces.

Strangely enough my main knowledge of history is Napoleonic including the Navy. Now as I am involved in first and 15th century re-enactment I thought my knowledge would never be much use. However, this is where some of that knowledge is being put to good use. The use of ropes on sails to take the strain out of the canvas is what I am thinking of. By having the ropes taking the strain through the roof and transferring this through the guy ropes to the ground the canvas should not be taking much strain at all even in high winds.

The only seams I plan to sew in the whole thing is to join the three triangles of the roof of the bedroom together. Due to the width of the fabric the roof of the main part of the tent can be cut in one section. My intention from the beginning has been to have the walls as separate pieces – this makes it easier to fold the tent into a number of small, lightweight manageable bags – prevents throwing your back out every time you have to heave your tent in or out of the car.

By having these sections as separate entities I needed a quick and easy – i.e. do-able in the dark, wind and rain – method of putting the walls in before collapsing into bed. Had a bit of a think and decided that the method used in ‘plastic’ tents could be applied, so it will be brass rings and wooden toggles. Do this correctly with cover strips etc and you will keep the wind and rain out.

Page 3 of 4: « First < 1 2 3 4 > Last »