Mary Ostler

I finished the Bedouin tent tonight. My hands ache, and I can’t sleep. I am chomping at the bit to try it out. To figure out what I did right, and what I most definitely did wrong. Tomorrow will not come soon enough!

The tension bands were folded in half, and I sewed them together. The doweling was their so I could get a close fit, but not so tight I could tread the bars back in later.

The bands that I have running off the sides were sewn on top of the front/back bands. If I had been smart I would have sewn the off sides bands down first, The bands that run across the depth would have covered them up. Nicer presentation…good to know for next time.

12 6″ dowels, and 2 8″ dowels. I allowed for 1″ on either side of the tension bands.

I used a rasp to cut down a groove, and a large rat tail file to enlarge the groove. ( the rasp works really fast, but wasn’t wide enough for the size of rope I had bought.

Finished doweling worked into the ends of the bands.

The single most tedious job was all the whip lashing I did to get the ropes attached. I can see a dozen different ways to do it, but alas, I needed to do it the hard way. I thick all the lashings are strong enough for the amount of  stress they will receive (fingers cross).

Must go try and get some sleep (not likely).