Firstly - hubby has *always* wanted an old-fashioned ''wall tent''. You know, the kind you can put a wood stove in and actually walk around in? Well, his boss had an old one, and got a new one just recently (smaller and easier to set up). So, Brian asked what he was going to do with the old one........ so, they did some 'horse trading' - and we got the tent for some mending work on some clothes his boss needed and a big bottle of whiskey. Not a bad trade I must say!
This was what the tent looked like when we first got it set up:
To say it needed help was an understatement. The legs on the ridgepole were too short so the peak wasn't high enough (thus the strange wrinkle). The ridgepole/legs were also 2" pipe and were SUPER heavy. Too heavy for hubby and I to wrangle by ourselves really.
So, first thing we did was buy new smaller diameter pipe, and at less than half the weight, it was a dramatic difference.
So, we took the tent down. It had 6 widths of canvas sewn together, so he decided to remove 2 of them, which would make the tent 14x12. So, he removed the end of the tent about 4'' from the rear seam, then just on the front side of the 2 back panels.
Hubby helped guide the fabric when I sewed the two parts of the tent back together, and it actually worked better than I thought it would. I was pleasantly surprised and am SO relieved that it worked out and it's DONE.
Here is the seam from the outside:
Inside view from the doorway:
Here is the seam from the inside:
inside view from the rear corner:
So, now all we have to do is install a zipper on the doorway (it overlaps has ties and velcro, we want a zipper)...... and the zipper has been ordered and is on it's way (has to be a separating zipper as the top of the door already has a zipper).
I also have on order some seam sealer for the seam I stitched, and I plan to use the leftover canvas that we removed from the tent to make a bag for it. Then, we'll just have to locate (or build) a woodstove and we'll be ready for winter camping!