Maybe we do get two miracles on this tent
The title of today's post was going to be "Only one miracle per tent", and then...
Although I managed to get out yesterday for more blue paint, it was after supper before I began to finish that blue vine. While at Guiry's, I also picked up a pack of white bristle brushes; the pack included a filbert, which is the brush that I had been wishing for over the last two weeks. The painting went well - better than it had - and the paint was dry by 9:00.
The valance is officially done. Actually the painting is officially done. Which brings us to the next step.
I love it when lots of little pieces become one. For instance, we started out with 10 roof pieces, 4 hoop casings, a strip of Dutch lacing, and a valance made from an unknown number of pieces. That's 16+ pieces of canvas. Once the roof and valance were sewn, we were down to 7 pieces. Last night we stitched the Dutch lacing strip to the roof; the tent top is now in 6 pieces.
When you retro-fit a tent like we're doing, you worry. I worried about the steel ring fitting the peak opening. I am worried about the valance being long enough (or too long). I'm worried about having enough hoop casing that the gaps won't be large. I'm worried that I didn't buy enough PVC. I didn't worry about the strip of Dutch lacing being long enough - after all, we thought we were making the circumference of the tent slightly less than Northstar I.
We should have worried.
As I got to the tenth roof panel (while stitching the Dutch lacing to the roof) it became apparent that the strip I had wouldn't reach the first panel. We were about 2 1/2' short.
Although this gap is easily reparable - I'll simply make a
new 2 1/2' strip of Dutch lacing - the implications are rather large, from a work-to-do vs. time-to-do-it-in perspective. The walls in Northstar I fit the Dutch lacing. Therefore, the walls must be too short for Northstar II's roof line.
How can this be? The canvas we used is narrower by about 2", and I know I took a greater seam allowance in the roof panels. This make no sense at all. I guess I'll know for sure when I find the walls and lace them into the roof.
This morning found me digging in the garage before taking Evan to school. I was not looking for the walls, but for some nylon rope of a suitable size for my 2.5' of Dutch lacing. I keep a couple bags of miscellaneous rope in the garage for just such an occasion. However, as I pulled miles and miles of sisal, cotton, and large nylon rope out of the bags, it quickly became apparent that I was not going to find the right size of rope. What I did find was a strip of incomplete Dutch lacing, apparently a scrap from Northstar I, and about the right length. It remains to be seen if there's enough rope attached.
A second miracle? The real miracle will be if I don't have to add a panel to the walls to make them fit Northstar II.
By the way, we broke 4 needles on the tent last night. They just don't like going over the ropes in the Dutch lacing, although they sail right through layers and layers of canvas.
Although I managed to get out yesterday for more blue paint, it was after supper before I began to finish that blue vine. While at Guiry's, I also picked up a pack of white bristle brushes; the pack included a filbert, which is the brush that I had been wishing for over the last two weeks. The painting went well - better than it had - and the paint was dry by 9:00.
The valance is officially done. Actually the painting is officially done. Which brings us to the next step.
I love it when lots of little pieces become one. For instance, we started out with 10 roof pieces, 4 hoop casings, a strip of Dutch lacing, and a valance made from an unknown number of pieces. That's 16+ pieces of canvas. Once the roof and valance were sewn, we were down to 7 pieces. Last night we stitched the Dutch lacing strip to the roof; the tent top is now in 6 pieces.
When you retro-fit a tent like we're doing, you worry. I worried about the steel ring fitting the peak opening. I am worried about the valance being long enough (or too long). I'm worried about having enough hoop casing that the gaps won't be large. I'm worried that I didn't buy enough PVC. I didn't worry about the strip of Dutch lacing being long enough - after all, we thought we were making the circumference of the tent slightly less than Northstar I.
We should have worried.
As I got to the tenth roof panel (while stitching the Dutch lacing to the roof) it became apparent that the strip I had wouldn't reach the first panel. We were about 2 1/2' short.
Although this gap is easily reparable - I'll simply make a
new 2 1/2' strip of Dutch lacing - the implications are rather large, from a work-to-do vs. time-to-do-it-in perspective. The walls in Northstar I fit the Dutch lacing. Therefore, the walls must be too short for Northstar II's roof line.How can this be? The canvas we used is narrower by about 2", and I know I took a greater seam allowance in the roof panels. This make no sense at all. I guess I'll know for sure when I find the walls and lace them into the roof.
This morning found me digging in the garage before taking Evan to school. I was not looking for the walls, but for some nylon rope of a suitable size for my 2.5' of Dutch lacing. I keep a couple bags of miscellaneous rope in the garage for just such an occasion. However, as I pulled miles and miles of sisal, cotton, and large nylon rope out of the bags, it quickly became apparent that I was not going to find the right size of rope. What I did find was a strip of incomplete Dutch lacing, apparently a scrap from Northstar I, and about the right length. It remains to be seen if there's enough rope attached.
A second miracle? The real miracle will be if I don't have to add a panel to the walls to make them fit Northstar II.
By the way, we broke 4 needles on the tent last night. They just don't like going over the ropes in the Dutch lacing, although they sail right through layers and layers of canvas.
posted by Melanie Unruh-Bays | 11:11 AM
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