tent-making-msg - 4/13/99 Useful ideas when making tents. NOTE: See also the files: p-tents-msg, pavilions-msg, tent-care-msg, tent-fabrics-msg, tent-painting-msg, tent-ps-msg, tent-sources-msg, sewng-machnes-msg, sewing-tables-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ From: dpeters at panix.com (D. Peters) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Tent/Pavilion questions Date: 10 Mar 1997 09:23:36 -0500 SThomas728 wrote: >I toyed with the idea of making my own tent, but I live in a small >apartment where I could not lay fabric out that I was working with I'm not trying to talk you into building your own tent--honest!--but I'd like to point out that we built our (approx.) 12' x 16' oval pavilion in a 1 1/2 bedroom NYC apartment. To anyone else out there contemplating tent-building, it *can* be done in a less-than-lavish space. (Although we *did* have to take it to a park out the Island to test set-up the first time) >also, my sewing machine would not ba able to handle the layers of thick >fabric. Much of the sewing on our tent was done on an elderly sewing machine that my spouse had picked up at a garage sale for $10.00. We did have to break down and buy a sewing machine from Sears Roebucks because the geriatric machine wouldn't do buttonholes.... Once again, I'm not trying to brow-beat you into building your own tent, but there may be folks out there who'd like to build a tent, but have similar reservations. Cheers, D.Peters looking forward to using the pavilion at a camping event in Brooklyn (!) this summer.... From: odlin at reed.edu (Iain Odlin) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Tent/Pavilion questions Date: 11 Mar 1997 08:58:18 GMT If you're pressed for space to lay out large projects (ie: sewing a tent), try making contact with local community or high school theatres. A stage usually has a great deal of space to play around with, and every theatre generally has a 'dormant' period (some have winter, others summer). If you carefully explain what you'd like to do (and *clean up after yourself*), you just might find all the space you need (and, sometimes, more help than you could possibly use). -Iain Odlin, Technical Director, Westbrook High School Drama Dept, who uses his stage to dry out his tent after camping events. Hang it from the lighting battens and turn on the stage lights. Dry in no time! From hairyhoof at aol.com Tue May 13 12:38:26 1997 Date: 15 Apr 1997 18:13:06 GMT From: Hairy Hoof To: sca at mc.lcs.mit.edu Subject: Pavilion designs Here in Calontir where we own more pavilions per capita then I have ever seen anywhere else ( yes I have seen else where) many many people sew there own tents. My wife has two, I have sewn five. In my Barony alone 40+people have tents they or someone else here sewed. All but one of these people used basic household models to do the job. Some go over those big multiple layer joints better then others but they can almost all do the job. Just be careful of a few things: Dont pull the fabric faster then the machine will take it Be careful of the tension the tent exerts as you feed it through, the stress of fabric weight on the arm is not always from an obvious direction. So adjust the pile waiting on your side of the machine frequently to make sure you have no trun into heavy stress from a fold Be patient Be patient Don't rush and you won't have a problem. If you start breaking needles you are probably either forcing the fabric or you have that hidden stress somewhere. I have seen people go threw scores of needles and then need big repairs on the machine. Sometimes the strain is just to much and a needle will break. If however there is no apparent reason ( like those giant joint seams) for the break you probably are doing one of those things I mentioned. Good luck, you can do it if I can Tiberius, Baron, Forgotten Sea, Calontir Date: Tue, 06 May 1997 14:34:11 -0400 From: nancy lynch To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu Subject: Round edges on tent designs. Sheron Buchele/Curtis Rowland wrote: > A tentmaker here, Unser Hafen, Outlands, got some of the treated for sun > and mildew canvas which was very slick and smelled bad. It also ripped > along the sewn seams like 'tear along the dotted line'. So I would urge > getting a sample and checking it out! > > Baroness Leonora Yep, that was me! The weight of the pretreated canvas is such that if it does get yanked by a serious wind and misplaced guy ropes, it will tear. especially any flat surfaces. I am not sure why that is. Round tents fare better than tents with large flat areas though. The elements tend to slip around rather than flatten the tent. And ANY tent that had the ropes staked in at odd angles will be a dissappointment in a big wind. There is a reason for the even distribution of tension and stress!:-) Also, *do not* think that excessively strong thread (like one would sew leather shoes with) is a good idea. Keep in mind that the tent will sway and bounce around in the breezes and all that movement will be bad of you use too large or strong a thread or too many stitches close together. Think of a saw in a hole moving back and forth a lot. Use larger than standard home sewing thread though, or the general weight and sunshine will break the stitching fibers pretty quick. The winds in the Rocky Mountain region can be quite amazing! I've been living on the East coast for the past year and when they have a 25mph wind they all get excited. That is a puny breeze when you live in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains! So keep in mind your tension lines and distribute the stress evenly for the eventual TEST! You may visit a windy area and be glad of staking your tent correctly :-) Sonas ort! (Irish - "Happiness on you!") Lughbec ni Eoin Edited by Mark S. Harris tent-making-msg Page 3 of 4