Lots of labor, but no cigar

It's sort of like having a baby - you know the steps, you know the mechanics, but really, it'll be done in its own sweet time. No, we haven't been able to test-erect this tent yet, and yes we're now four days behind schedule, but there is significant progress. I think the next time I decide I want to make a large tent, I'll schedule four weekends rather than two.

There were accomplishments yesterday; I got the valance and hoop casing stitched to the tent top, and made a section of the Dutch lacing to fill in the gap. Not without trouble, though. I broke so many needles that I can't count them all. The machine just does not want to go through the ropes. Robert and I even brought up the 1928 Singer treadle machine (easier to bring the machine to the tent, than the tent to the machine) and had the exact same problem. I hand-cranked through the last 7 feet or so of the valance/hoop casing stitching.

What I did not do - and I won't until after Three Stags - is to finish the raw edges of the hoop casing and the valance. I'm going to invest in a machine tune-up before I do that.

While Robert was waiting on the sewing to be completed, he finished the kingpole. It now has a wooden top, nicely rounded for the chains to perch atop, and a long pin to accommodate finial and pennon. The top is a wooden closet pole, epoxied into the steel pipe. He rasped the top of the closet pole into a round shape. I don't know if I can get a pennon done for it, but we'll see. I may sleep very little tonight.

Last night saw us pulling the ropes through the flat-felled seams and out the grommets at the bottom. We used a coat hanger as a needle, and most of the time had to pull the rope out the grommet with a pair of pliers, since the doubled-over rope was too thick to go through. After the ropes were pulled, we had to engineer the support for the fabric tent top.

The ropes serve one major function, and one minor one. Primarily, they hold the king pole upright. Yes, the ropes run through the fabric of the tent roof, and they do support the cone shape of the roof, but they don't actually hold up the roof. The roof must be secured to the steel ring or it will slip down the ropes. Not very far, but far enough to be untenable.

Northstar I had been stitched to the ring by means of a collar which enclosed ring, ropes, and the top edge of each of the panels. It was secure, but hardly elegant. I wanted to improve on the design. I decided that leather patches, 3" x 5" could be doubled over between the ropes and stitched to the fabric. The patches each have holes pre-drilled in them for ease of stitching. The stitching goes through the back of the patch, through the edge of the flat-felled seam on the right, through the front of the patch and then back through the next set of holes. Both sides of the patch run through the flat-felled seam on either side, while the bottom of the patch only goes through the single layer of canvas.

I got four of the patches installed before bed became the only option.

Robert also dug the Northstar I walls out of the garage. We were disappointed to find them in fair condition. They're dirty, and also have become subject to the mildew beast. Some parts seem fine; others are a mess. We'll see what happens when we put the whole thing up tonight.