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Wedge-Tent-WE-art - 9/6/18

 

"Wedge Tent in a Weekend" by Maestra Giovanna di Battista da Firenze.

 

NOTE: See also the files: Select-a-Tent-art, On-Pavilions-art, Covenham-Pav-art, 16thC-pavilon-art, Pav-Decoratg-art, tent-fabrics-msg, tent-transprt-msg.

 

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NOTICE -

 

This article was added to this set of files, called Stefan's Florilegium, with the permission of the author.

 

These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

 

Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author or translator.

 

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.

 

Thank you,

Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous

stefan at florilegium.org

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You can find more work by this author on her blog at:

https://quicklyunravel.blogspot.com/

 

Wedge Tent in a Weekend

by Maestra Giovanna di Battista da Firenze

 

 

Why not camp in a period tent?

 

1) I don't have the money.

2) I don't have the space in my vehicle to transport the canvas and wood needed for a period tent.

3) I camp by myself and I need a tent that I can set up by myself.

 

All of these are valid reasons, and these were the reasons that I heard over and over from people when I asked their reason for using a modern tent. How could I change this? I believed that if I could create a tent style that would address all these concerns perhaps I could encourage my friends to take the plunge. What I came up with was a pattern for a wedge tent that I felt met the bill.

 

1) The materials: which includes fire retardant Sunforger, wood, stakes, ground cloth cost roughly $250.

 

2) The canvas folds down to the size of a small duffel bag and the wood uprights and ridgepole break down so the longest piece is just 5 1⁄2 '.

 

3) The entire tent can be set up by one person, except for raising the uprights and ridgepole, where a second set of hands is needed for less than one minute.

 

I decided on a wedge for a number of reasons.

 

1) To get a pavilion for under $300 necessitates that one sew it themselves. A wedge is a very simple style of tent to make and would not be too complex for a first project.

 

2) It is a style that was used for thousands of years throughout mainland Europe and continues to be used to the present day.

 

3) It can be mass-produced quickly and efficiently thus providing a large quantity of tents for new members.

 

4) The design has a very compact footprint and wedge tents can be easily placed next to each other with very little land waste. (Especially handy at wars where land is at a premium.)

 

5) The size works very well for an individual for a week or two people for a weekend. With the majority of the camping events in many kingdoms consisting of weekend events I felt this style would benefit many people.

 

The finished wedge measures approximately 10' wide, 8' high and 9 1⁄2' long and you will need the following materials:

 

• 25 yards of 60" Sunforger (the actual width is usually closer to 58"). Make sure your fabric is treated with a fire retardant, since it is required for canvas structures in many states. There should be enough canvas left over to create a carrying bag for your tent and your stakes.

 

• 40, 8" lengths of 1" light weight cotton webbing for the door ties and 14, 4" lengths of 5/8" cotton webbing for the ground loops. I make mine out of Sunforger.

 

• 1, 50' package of clothes-line rope; nylon core with a cotton wrap. Purchase at your local hardware store.

 

• 2, Rolled rim spur washer and grommet, size 15/32" or 7/16". Hardware store or www.rochfordsupply.com

 

• 1 spool (which will easily sew a few wedges) of D-Core cotton wrapped poly thread. T-50 to T-80 weight.  http://amefird.com/d-core.htm

 

Equipment:

 

• Sharp scissors

• Pins (long quilters pins are excellent)

• Measuring tape (construction tape, minimum 25' in length) • Small ruler

• Pencil

• 10' straight edge or chalk line

• Heavy duty/ Industrial sewing machine with a walking foot

Bruce

 

Some people will say that you do not need an industrial machine to sew Sunforger, and while I agree with them for the most part (since I have sewn a Sunforger shade fly on my old Singer) I do find that the process is a lot easier when I use a tool with more power. Such machines can be rented. If you teamed up with several people you could easily split the cost on such a rental, as well as lower the cost of your materials by ordering in bulk.

 

To find a rental machine in your area I suggest speaking with places that use this type of equipment (Upholstery shops/ Trade Schools/ Theatres) and ask where they get their machines or what company cleans/ repairs their machines. Once you have this information call them up and tell them what you are doing. This is how I ended up finding the company where I purchased "Bruce".

 

Construction: Sewing a tent is not that different than sewing a piece of clothing, I actually equate it to constructing a tunic, it's just the amount of fabric that can be tough to handle. The wedge is sewn primarily using flat felled seams and rolled hems.

 

To sew a flat felled seam place the right sides of your fabric together with the lower panel extending past the upper by the width of the salvage line or the seam allowance. If the top piece of fabric also has a salvage edge use that as a guide to run your first row of stitches.

 

Because we are sewing full widths of fabric for the roof you will be sewing salvage edge to salvage edge. If you are using 45" or 36" fabric and you cut down the width of one of your roof panels, sew the cut edge to the salvage edge. This will prevent your seam from stretching.

 

Bring the bottom piece out from underneath the top so that both are lying flat on the table and the seam sticks up in the air. Fold the longer edge down over the short edge and then fold both of them down flat. Sew a line of stitches along the outer edge of the fold.

 

When you sew this second row of stitches, be sure to firmly pull the two pieces of fabric taut and press the overlap flat as you feed it through the sewing machine. This will result in a cleaner and stronger seam. Finish this seam by flipping the entire piece over and sew a third row of stitches on the edge opposite from your second row of stitches. This step isn't critical, but I feel it finishes the seam nicely.

 

Fabric: Find a clean spacious place to lay out your fabric. The parts for the wedge consist of two rectangles that form the roof, each measuring 252". This length factors in a 12" mudflap at the bottom edge of the tent. The doors consist of 4 triangular pieces, which are cut to overlap by approximately 4" and have a 10" mudflap. A 12" strip of fabric is sewn to the top of the tent along the length of the roof to reinforce the area that the ridgepole rests.

 

When the tent is set up, the mudflap is turned to the inside of the tent and your ground cloth/ tarp is laid on top of it. This should help keep out most weather and will allow the inside of your tent to remain dry in all but the most severe of storms. Cut out all of your pieces and set them aside so that you can easily identify which part is which. The whole tent has less than 2 sq feet of waste once everything is cut out. Save the waste fabric in case you need to make repairs to your canvas in the future.

 

Roof: Start out by cutting out the panels that will form the roof; cut 2 panels at 252" x 60" (width of your fabric). Mark the center edge of each roof panel at 126 inches and mark the bottom of the roof section 12" up from the bottom on both sides; the bottom of your doors will meet this mark. Sew the two panels together along the long edge using a flat felled seam being careful to make sure the centers match.

 

You can pin the panels together before you sew to keep the fabric from wandering. Finish the bottom edge of the roof panel with a rolled hem, turning the fabric towards the wrong side of the roof and sewing the hem down. Leave the remaining salvage edge as it is since you will be sewing the doors to it. Set this piece aside.

 

 

Doors: Cut 4 doors using the door diagram. You will cut your door panels the full width of your fabric (using 60" fabric) and then cut two strips of canvas 7" wide. The 7" strips will be sewn together and added to one edge of the door opening. You only need one flap, but if you choose to add another one on the inside you will need to allow for an extra foot of fabric when you are ordering your supplies. Once your four doors are cut out lay them out in pairs, the way they will look when they are sewn on the tent, with the front overlapped.

 

When you are finishing the edges of the door you need to remember than 2 will have the raw edges sewn one way and two will be sewn the opposite, in other words 2 will be left doors and 2 will be right. If it helps, work on one pair of doors at a time.

 

Typically I finish the doors so the left side overlaps the right; this means that the ties that are set in from the edge will be on the inside for the left door and the ties for the right door will be on the outside. Cut 40 ties at 8 inches each. Cut one end at an angle to keep it from fraying. Each door half gets 10 ties. The first tie is placed 3" from the bottom of the door and the rest are spaced at 15" intervals from the first.

 

Finishing the doors: With the wrong side facing you, fold the salvage edge back and run a stitch to hold it down. You will notice that one of your salvages will have the fabric information printed on it. I do my best to hide this within seams or hems when I am sewing. If one of your doors has this writing fold the salvage back on itself to hide it.

 

When you encounter a mark for a tie place that inside the fold and make a couple of passes at that point, continue in this manner until the salvage edge is sewn. You will run another row of stitches at the very edge of the door and at each point where there is a tie you will lay that smooth over the initial hem and catch it in the top stitch, thus securing each tie twice.

 

On the bottom of your door you will finish the raw edges with a small rolled hem. Cut a length of tape 4" and sew it to the center bottom of the door in the shape of a flat loop.

 

 

Once each door half is done lay them out again as you did before, in pairs. Overlap them as they will appear on your finished tent and take your measuring tape and check the width at the bottom. Do not lay out your doors so that they meet in a point, but leave a flat end that is roughly 1 inch wide.

 

At the peak of your doors the center flap extends past the edge of each door and we will need to make this a neat triangle before we sew it on our roof. Pin the doors together securely at the top and continue down the opening and mark where the corresponding ties will be placed, on the inside and outside of your door. Top stitch the outer edge at top of the doors to hold them together and trim away the excess fabric.

 

Now your doors will look like a true triangle and you are ready to sew them to the roof. Sew the rest of the ties on the doors before you attach them to the tent roof. To sew on the ties I lay the tie so that the end is on my mark and the rest lies away from the door opening.

 

Stitch a couple of passes 1⁄2" in from the flat end that is resting on the mark. I then fold the tie back on itself and sew another set of stitches so that the angled end of the tie is now facing towards the door opening, one stitch at the folded end and one stitch 1⁄2" in from the folded end. This makes a very secure tie and hides the raw edges.

 

 

Top center: Cut two12" panels the width of your fabric and sew the short ends together using a flat felled seam and turn and stitch the raw edges down once along the long sides. This is the reinforcing strip that you will sew on the top of the tent. Lay out the rectangle that is your roof and find the center that you marked earlier. Take the reinforcing strip and mark it's center and pin it onto the roof so that it runs from salvage edge to salvage edge.

 

Carefully sew the reinforcing strip in place making sure that the raw edges are facing towards the roof. The strip will be on the outside of your roof when it is set up. It will be tricky getting all of the fabric through the arm of the sewing machine, but take it slow and be patient.

 

Grommets: I add the grommets to the roof prior to sewing on the doors. To add the grommets find the center of the roof, this should be the center of the reinforcing panel, which corresponds to the center marks that you made when you were cutting out the roof panels. The grommets are placed in the center, 3 inches in from the selvage ends. This spacing will allow you enough room to sew on the doors.

 

Sewing the Doors to the Roof: With right sides facing place the top of the door on the center of the roof with the salvage edge of the roof extending past the raw edge of the door. Pin one side of the door to one side of the roof, starting from the point and working towards the bottom. Make sure you end your seam before you get to the mudflap on the bottom of the door. Once one side is sewn, pin the other side in place, make sure that the bottom edge of each door ends at roughly the same place on the roof, approximately 12" from the bottom edge. Sew the other side of the door, being careful to fit the point so it lies smooth. Now take the salvage of the roof and fold it over to enclose the raw edge of the door and run another row of stitches.

 

Sewing loops: Now that you have your doors sewn on we will add the loops that you will need to stake down the edge of your tent. With the wrong side facing up fold the mudflap on the bottom edge of your tent back on itself (wrong side to wrong side) up to where the edges of the door meet the roof (this is the mudflap on the side of your tent and not the mudflap on your door). Pin the mudflap back and run a row of stitching 1" in from the folded edge.

 

Open the mudflap out, lay it flat and topstitch the 1" seam down, with the fold edge facing the bottom of the tent. At the same time add the 5 loops by placing them inside the fold and securing them with the topstitch. The five loops will be placed in the following manner: one at each end, one at the center seam and one in the center of each panel. You can construct the loop anyway you like but I prefer a flattened loop. You way wish to make a third pass on this seam to hold everything together and add extra security to your loops, which will be under a lot of stress.

 

When you set up your tent you can place your stakes directly through the cotton webbing loops, but I prefer to add a piece of rope to each loop and place the stake through the rope. It the rope breaks I simply tie on a new length. It is much more involved to fix one of the cotton loops if it breaks. The lengths of rope measure 8" for each loop and I tie them on using a simple square knot.

 

Extra items: The amount of fabric is calculated so that there should be enough left over to construct a carrying bag for your tent and a bag to hold your stakes. For the bag I take a piece of fabric that is the full width of my canvas and approximately 24" wide. I fold it in half and use the salvage ends as the opening for the bag. Sew up the sides and fold the salvage over to make a casing for a drawstring. There is no right or wrong way to make these bags, just use your leftover fabric as efficiently as you can.

 

Tent Frame

 

 

Materials:

 

·      2, 8' wooden upright

·      1, ridgepole (wait until your canvas is completed to get the final length)

·      3 metal sleeves that will fit the wood you are using for your frame so you can cut down the length for ease of transport. You must drill one sleeve to accept 2 bolts to connect the ridgepole. The sleeves for the uprights can be 12", but I would go 20" for the ridgepole. For metal sleeves I would consult your yellow pages and contact steel vendors in your area. The product you need is steel tubing; either square or rectangle depending on the size of wood you are using. 14-16 gauge should work fine for this project. If you do not have a steel vendor in your area you can order steel tubing from King Architectural Metals, www.kingmetals.com Panther Primitives also sells steel sleeves through their catalog for standard 2" x 4" stock. www.pantherprimitives.com

·      2, 8" pieces of 3/8" cold rolled steel rod

·      14 metal stakes (plus 2 stakes and ropes if you use guy lines) www.irontreeworks.com

·      1, heavy mallet or dead blow hammer to pound in your stakes.

·      1, 8' x 10' plastic ground cloth/ tarp

 

The structure that holds up the tent consists of two uprights and a ridgepole. The type and size of wood to use for these 3 pieces I leave at the discretion of the builder. For my tent I used true 2" x 2" stock, but a standard 2" x 4" would work great as well. The uprights are made out of Doug Fir and the ridge is made out of oak. I do recommend a hard wood for the ridgepole since it will receive a lot of pressure from the canvas. When the frame is put together it resembles an upside down U. The length of your ridgepole will be determined once your canvas is complete. Measure the length of the ridgeline from door to door and transfer this length to the wood you are using, marking the centers of the grommets on each end. Cut your ridge to length and using a drill press drill a straight hole where each grommet falls.

 

Each upright receives a piece of steel rod in one end. The steel rod should be long enough to sit securely into the top of the upright, pass through the width of the ridgepole and extend out the top by a couple inches. The steel rod will go through the grommets at each end of the roof.

 

Repair kit: Just as you would have a repair kit for a modern tent, you should bring a repair kit for your period tent. Here are some items that you should consider bringing.

 

1) Sewing awl

2) Scrap pieces of canvas

3) Bobbin of same thread used during initial construction

4) Extra grommets and grommet setter

5) Length of cotton twill tape

6) Rope to replace ground loops

7) Additional hardware for wooden frame

8) Bag to carry everything in.

 

If you have any questions in regards to this pattern please contact me at valkyr8 at yahoo.com.

 

Rev: 1/21/2014

 

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Copyright 2013,2014 by Liz Pearson. <valkyr8 at yahoo.com>. Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited.  Addresses change, but a reasonable attempt should be made to ensure that the author is notified of the publication and if possible receives a copy.

 

If this article is reprinted in a publication, please place a notice in the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.

 

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Formatting copyright © Mark S. Harris (THLord Stefan li Rous).
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Comments to the Editor: stefan at florilegium.org