HOW TO MAKE A TENT, STEP-BY-STEP
(These are my notes from a class I teach)

PLANNING-Period vs. non period-awnings, excess side poles

• Commercial vs. Homemade-you can plan your tent, and have someone else sew it
• Before you go into the store to buy fabric, know:
• SIZE-If you struggle into Tudor clothes, or have a big household, you want a big tent
• STYLE/TIME PERIOD · Is your spouse the same time period as you?
• Is the tent I am designing as period as I will want it to be in two years? This is a big investment of time and money-- your tastes and approach to period may change in that time. When in doubt, go period!
• General idea of color-color bleeds, so think ahead
• How many people to set it up when you camp?
• How much can you afford to spend?
• Do you have space to transport the frame and fabric, or should the poles break down?
• What sort of weather will you encounter? Mud flaps, air vents, windows?
• Do you know anyone locally who makes tents?-helpful, show off their tents
• Do you want attached walls or walls that can be removed?
• FABRIC TYPE-natural vs. synthetic
• Will you need extra fabric for loops, bags, floor, window coverings, dags, door overlap, and doors? ·
• Will you need extra fabric to flare out the walls (insert gussets)? Remember that flared walls also mean the walls must be longer to reach the ground since they will be at an angle, and not hanging straight down.
• Will you be making an awning? Attached awnings are not period for non-Muslin tents, but you do most of your living OUTSIDE the tent. Compromise and make a dining fly that is big enough to protect from the elements. Do you want it to match your tent?

• Do a mockup in graph paper to get an idea of how it will look
• If you have a tricky roof, you can mock it up in cheap fabric
• Don't forget to overlap the door!
• If your tent is circular, remember that the bottom end of your roof will be curved

• Sources --
• Fabric Depot, or try calling RCT (Rose City Textiles) Fabrics 1-800-728-5666.
• Itex, in Aurora Colorado. Call the toll free info number (1-800-555-1212) for the toll free number. Tom Feist is the contact person, and he knows all about the SCA, and was very helpful on the phone. His Grace Duke Cariadoc shared his source for good cheap canvas with me, and I called them yesterday. Their prices sound wonderful--to give you an idea: 60" wide khaki canvas 10 oz for 2.25 per yard 60" wide natural canvas for a bit over $3 (my notes are at work).The catch is the fabric is actually a remnant, (albeit a huge one) and that you buy the entire bolt, not by the yard. The bolts vary, and they will be able to tell you how many yards are on the bolt you are buying before you purchase one. It costs about $30-$40 to ship a bolt UPS in the United States. Most bolts are between 80 and 200 yards, and you can put a request in for a particular color, fabric, weight, bolt size, etc. All this information is per the company.
• TO SAVE MONEY:
• Need canvas? Check out canvas tarp truckers use
• Can you make do with a couple colors? If the walls are straight up and down, they often don't need to be as waterproof as the roof. Use end of bolts, sales fabric
• Does your Barony have a costume maker's guild? May have discounts or sources
• Can you remake an existing tent?
• Buy less expensive fabric and waterproof it later
• Barter instead of buy. Do you know someone who will help you with the frame or fabric in exchange for something you can do?
• Does you area have a tent making company or an outerwear factory? Check with them about obtaining boo-boos at cut prices
• Try calling tent rental places to see about tents with expired fireproofing, need repair. May have fabric you can cut down, or a pre made frame.
• Get Grommets, thread, reinforcement stuff (leather, Herculon) for peak of roof. Fiberglass screening for windows?

• Don't use detergent or fabric softener
• Commercial washer/dryers work great

• Where do you have space to do it?
• Use sharp scissors
• Keep your cats off the fabric! Claws do terrible things to waterproof roofs
• Be careful of the right vs. wrong (back) side of fabric
• Wedges-use a non stretchy string the length of the height of the wedge, swing other end over fabric as wide as needed, and mark
• Marking-use a chalk pencil-no ink!
• DON'T FORGET TO ALLOW FOR SEAMS! Overlaps,
• Use a clamp with post it note to mark piece name--all that fabric starts to look the same when you are handling big pieces

• Do you want to paint/decorate sections of your tent BEFORE you sew it together?
• Set up somewhere you can maneuver a LOT of fabric through your machine. I use a small table set in front of my sewing machine stand, to support the weight of all that fabric.
• Finish seams as you go-You won't want to go back!
• CLAMP, don't pin! I use office clamps (like you would use to clamp a stack of paper together)
• Do the roof first-It is easier to fit walls to roof than other way around. Does it need grommet in peak?
• If roof is a centerpole design, sew in leather or Herculon cap to reinforce the peak-very important!
• Hem the pieces as you go. Hem the bottom of the roof, the top of the walls, etc.
• Sew windows and window coverings/opening in walls before you join walls together
• Join all wall pieces together
• Hem bottom. Attach stake loops-every few feet. If your fabric isn't canvas, consider putting stakes at the end of the wall seams, for strength
• Sew dags/overhang strip, if any
• Sew hoop casing, if any
• Set grommets BEFORE you sew together wall and roof
• Which pieces need to be sewn together? For attached roof, clamp together the roof, the dags, the wall, and the hoop casing (if any). Doublecheck this.
• Sew pieces together. If necessary, have a professional with a heavy duty machine do this
• If wall is attached, press/tack the main seam that attaches the walls and roof toward the peak of the roof. This will make the roof overhang the wall a bit, so the seam won't collect water (and look stupid)

• Visible vs. non visible
• Period vs. non
• Frame should be flexible enough to hold together during wind moving it
• Metal centerpole-positives and minuses---Screws together, great lightning rod! NEVER USE ALUMINUM CASING! It tears, and we've got the scars to prove it.
• Always adjust your frame to your fabric-NOT the other way around.
• Do you want to make a decoration for your peak?
• Do you need a portable hole (or two) for a centerpole?

• Thread rope through roof grommets, if necessary
• Set up tent · Check for raw seams, trailing threads, holes
• Waterproof seams if you are not painting tent (otherwise, do that last)
• If necessary, spray waterproofing on entire tent. If painting, wait until after tent is painted to waterproof it.

• What sort of container do you want for your tent? Packing a wet tent can be a pain. I use a large Rubbermaid container, which doubles as a bathtub on long tourneys!
• Paint tent and/or frame, then waterproof (paint negates the ability natural fibers have to swell)
• Make floor covering
• Get some period stakes! Why have a period tent with plastic stakes?
• Think about furniture for your tent! How about a period table, or bed?

Email Mira Silverlock