Tuesday, March 17, 2009

{a tents not just a tent}


not wanting to wrap the top of my tent in plastic sheets or a giant tarp again this past year {my most favorite summer event is known for thunderstorms}
i decided last january to do something about it. i purchased about ten yards of a lovely double plastic coated linen.
annd then it sat neatly folded.
until two days before the event i wanted it for.
so i got out my trusty measuring tape and got to work. it ended up only taking about three hours from start to finish-and i am by no means an experienced sewer.
i filled the seams with a silicone caulking-i would use something like E600 for that job next time. that would have also cost less. (the caulking started to pull away from the fabric the first time i folded it after using).
it still folds perfectly into the triangle shapes that were cut and sewn together. its a bit heavy but soo worth it. it poured for the last day and a half. the new top, that i simply placed over the original one, surly saved my booth from washing away. the pattern shows through just a bit inside the tent and is really pretty when the sun shines on it.
if i were to do it again, i would get at least 12 yards, make the lip longer all the way around. i would pick two sides (to make a corner) much longer. again i would fill the seams with E600.
there was no need to finish the edges where the plastic keeps the fabric from fraying. you could always make proper holes so youre able to screw the new top on with the old one. where i dont fold it up with the tent itself, that seems too time consuming.
i have to admit i was thrilled with myself for figuring out how to put this together. as it turns out-i did NOT need any math skills to accomplish this. might have been helpful, but im sure it would have only slowed me down.


hope someone has found this helpful and inspiring. i would love to see more pride taken in booth setups and displays. :)



3 comments:

  1. LOVE LOVE LOVE! What a great idea and it's so beautiful. I bet it really makes your booth stand out from the others.

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  2. Beautiful...now inspired to step it up a bit for my summer outdoor shows!

    www.orrtec.blogspot.com

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