We're starting to think about getting serious about traveling the Faire circuit next summer and I'm looking for tips, etc (or someone just to tell me I'm crazy and should order from Panther lol) Anyone made their own tent?

Yep, I tried and all I have to say is: Panther ROCKS! ROFL

I have a turn of the century Singer industrial that will sew through wood. And, even with that, it's hard. You need many people to do a tent. Mostly, you need help maneuvering it. You can't move all that heavy fabric by yourself. I talked to the owners of Panther and they usually have 2-3 people at a time: one sewing and 1-2 handling.

I would make a dining fly or a kids a-frame tent. But, not an adults.

I don't SCA, but I thought about doing one for giggles <yeah I'm a glutton for punishment>

There are several sites out there. Actually I'm not thinking of building a tent/pavillions, so much as a yurt/ger. There are some pretty neat sites out there for building tents and yurts.

So Hastings, are you gonna go for it?????

~M

panther is good but i know my mom has a pattern somewhere (when she was a civil war re-enactor), i will ask her where she got it from. probably from teh re-enactors pattern book, but i will ask to make sure

i don't know-- now I'm askeard lol.

i don't know-- now I'm askeard lol.

Don't be scared! I didn't mean to talk you out of it. They really are simple to design. Lots of looooooooong straight lines. It just that you need a good deal of help maneuvering the fabric. It gets SO heavy. If you have the help, go for it!

~M

Go for it Hastings!!! What kind of pavillion are you wanting to make?

I know you probably have this link but here ya go just in case you don't:

http://www.currentmiddleages.org/tents/

Its really really simple straight line sewing, its just ALOT of fabric to pass through the machine. If you can make those wonderful patchwork outfits, you can make a pavillion!!! :thumbsup:

I've done it several times. Twice making pavilions of my own, and three or four times as somebody's assistant/galley slave. Yes, I am a glutton for punishment.

PM me if you're interested in hearing details and/or horror stories, but here's my overall advice on the process: It's time consuming and tiring but if you have at least one and preferably two helpers, a strong sewing machine, and a long weekend or two to do it in it really can be done. And once done, you get bragging rights forever.

However, I would like to very gently suggest that given how expensive heavy canvas, hardened wood braces, and all the other materials are, not to mention the time and tears involved, you might want to weigh very carefully the cost of a used Panther or Tentmasters pavilion. The last big tentmaking project I worked on ended up costing more than a brand spanking new Panther would have cost.

Well, I think I can con the rest of my household into helping (there about 7 families) so I can probably manage the maneuvering if I move the machine out to the back patio lol.
I'm still researching style. Our personas are Serbian Rroms (gypsies) about 1340, so we have one thing in common with our actual lives-- we're broke lol. Nothing fancy I'm sure, but documenting the Rroma is very difficult

Then Hastings you should just go with a bender, LOL.

A quick question though for those of you that have done this....Can you use old canvas from other tents? I was thinking of hitting the army surplus stores around town for canvas when I start mine. I figured it would be cheaper than new. I'll hit some of the RV'ing, awning and boating places too, when I start looking but I figured old army tents would probably be the cheapest.

The last big tentmaking project I worked on ended up costing more than a brand spanking new Panther would have cost.

I had a friend who planned on making their new tent, but once she priced out canvas and figured out the time it would take her to do it, it was cheaper to go with Panther. That said, I'd do it, if I had a machine that could!!!

Coincidentally enough, I ran across a notebook that I used for my last pavilion making project, lists of notes and supplies and the like. Most of it doesn't apply to this thread, but here's a rough list of the supplies I scribbled out when planning a 12 by 14 oval marquee pavilion. I'm posting them here just 'cause I think it's funny that I happened to find this list right after the thread went up, and because it gives a vague idea of just how many incidentals and small expenses go into tentmaking that you might not think about when you commit yourself by buying those first bolts of fabric.


60 yards 60" canvas
18 Perimeter Poles (Ash, 7'x3"x3")
2 Ridge Poles (Ash, 10'x3"x3")
1 Crossbrace (Ash, 7'x3"x3")
10 spools upholstery thread
5 pkgs. upholstery machine needles
3 pair scissors
2 gallons fire retardant spray
1 compression sprayer (1 gallon)
3 sticks Carpenter's chalk
1 Carpenter's chalk line
2 doz. heavy grommets
3 doz. x-long tent stakes
6 boxes medium binder clips
3 boxes large binder clips
1 can WD-40
4 50 foot pkgs. rope
2 yards bright fabric (for rope flags)
5 bottles seam sealer
18 4 in. iron rods
1 bottle extra-strength wood glue


I seem to remember that this list turned out to be somewhat but not horribly incomplete. Keep in mind that all these items were above and beyond a full sewing kit. Believe me, you really will dull three pair of scissors cutting all the fabric for a big pavilion, so you might as well pick up some cheapish scissors when you begin the project and plan to toss them at the end. The binder clips are for 'pinning' the fabric with so that you don't break threads and decrease the stability and watertightness. The iron rods get mounted into the ends of the perimeter poles and poked through the big grommets--we tied silly little flags to the ends of the rods after.

Also, if you don't have a 1950's era made-out-of-solid-steel sewing machine, you're going to want to beg, borrow, or buy one for tentmaking. I don't care how many thousands you spent on your pretty computerized sewing/quilting/embroidering machine, you're gonna destroy it flat-felling all those layers of canvas. Get yourself a machine that was manufactured pre-McCarthy and weighs 75 pounds and only goes forward and back, and then just keep going at it with the WD-40 as you sew.