Simple Arming-tent construction
By Earl, Sir Strider of Duramen
“Period” tentage is not difficult. At least it doesn’t have to be.
Remember, we are “Creative Anachronists.”
The trick is to make an item look close enough to the people’s concept
of medieval that they will see it as medieval.
My very first pavilion was made of old parachute material sewn to a roof
of some kind of cloth my mom had lying around and supported by the frame
of an old family camping tent that had rotted away. It worked.
It wasn’t rainproof, but have you noticed that most tents aren’t?
And it wasn’t really very medieval, but it was special. I made it and I was 21.
I have made several pavilions since that day, and have made “improvements” each time.
Very few tents, even store bought, are actually rainproof.
The one I have now is, but I’m lucky, and I paid for it. It is nice (and warm),
but takes lots of space to carry and time to set up.
If you don’t have much money or space, try this really neat arming tent. It is perfect for the single person,
starving college student, sunshade, storage area, or even as an ARMING TENT
(actually used to get armed in so your stuff isn’t dumped out all over the ground).
It’s also super easy to put up, carry, store, and use. It’s inexpensive to make,
easy to build and can be done in one day with a standard sewing machine.
It doesn’t even take much fancy sewing. Perfect.
As sunshade/day pavilion
As full pavilion
The arming tent I built uses a 6’ “market umbrella” as the base structure.
This is a parasol type sunshade and can now be found at almost any full sized super
store (Wal-mart, Costco, Lowes, etc.) I just bought 6 of these for $20 apiece out of a catalog.
They were on clearance, but they normally run about $35-$40.
I then I went down to my favorite “cheap material store” (Wal-Mart) and found some fairly
heavy 60” material, that didn’t stretch too much, for $2.00/yd.
A canvas or denim type material works well, but most anything will do. The denser fabrics will
be more rain resistant, but don’t ask for too much (there are always plastic tarps or little
dome tents to put up inside your arming tent if it really gets bad.)
Real canvas is much heavier, expensive, hard to find and sometime takes commercial weight
machines to sew. Canvas is also almost
waterproof. So it’s your choice.
The top material of your sunshade will also differ on different brands of parasols so take a look
before you buy. Some are ONLY meant for sunshade. They are very loose weave and rain will splatter
right through. While you are there, don’t forget to pick up the other items needed to build your tent.
(Thread, stakes, webbing, etc.)
Approximate materials needed:
1 – 6’ Market umbrella
18 yds - 60” material
15’- tie material (shoe stings, 1/4” bias tape or similar)
8’ – ¾”nylon webbing
Thread
8 – tent stakes
A Portable hole – (drive-in or screw-in support for the center pole)
Tent construction the Strider method.
My 6’ wide, eight-panel market umbrella has the following dimensions. (Do not take my dimensions to make yours. You will need to measure your own top measurments to make sure of the size.)
• The roof panels are 32 1/2” wide from spoke to spoke when open.
These panels should be measured from the center of each spoke, not at the tip but approximately 1 ½” up from the tip.
This gives room for the end-cap, which holds the top on.
This measurement is for the top width for your side panels (plus 1 1/2” for seams).
So the top of the eight side panels is 32 1/2”, plus 1 ½ for seams( ¾” on each side), which comes to 34”.
• The width for the panel base is 60”.
(60”is the widest standard width for material. 45” material will work, but will not give as visual an effect.
(Will not give as much slope on the wall. - Not as nice).
• Measure the height of the parasol from the ground to the tip of the spokes.
Mine is 5’6”. Add 1’. This becomes the length of your side panels. 6’6”
You now have the measurements you need to lay out your panels for cutting.
Top – 34”
Bottom – 60” (5’)
Length – 78” (6’6”)
Eight, 6’6” panels come to 52’. Divide that by 3 gives 17 1/3 yds.
(Don’t be cheap, buy 18yds. and you won’t come out short). If you wish to have a party-colored pavilion, (two alternating colors), buy 9 yds of each color.
You will need about 15 ’ of tie-cord material.
30 pieces about 6” long (to hold panel openings together and tie points at the top).
I use shoe stings whenever possible, although ¼” bias tape also works.
• Fold the material neatly in half down the center.
It normally comes that way, but is often not a clean, straight fold.
• Measure 6’6” and cut off the length.
You should have enough material for eight panel lengths.
• Lay out a folded panel and measure from the fold toward the outside edge, (Half of the top width we previously determined. 34” / 2 = 17”).
• Mark the 17” on the folded material.
The other end is already at 60” so you will not need to measure it. (Of course it is folded, so it will only be 30’ wide)
Now is the tricky part. If you have a carpenter in the house, you will have a chalk line available. If not, you will need a straight edge of some type to mark the diagonal cut.
• Mark the diagonal cut all the way down panel from the 17” top to the corner at the 30” edge.
• Once this line is marked, cut the panel.
• Be careful. Do not let the folded material drift while you are cutting. You may need to pin the folded panel together along the marked edge before cutting. Cut all eight panels the same way. You will end up with eight panels 6’6’ long, with 34” tops, and 60” bottoms.
• Sew the panels together along the cut edges.
I have my arming tent set up so that the back five panels are sewn together as one drape, and the front three as another. This allows me to set up as an open fronted pavilion, which is mostly enclosed and yet has full access and view. If I wish to enclose the pavilion entirely (as for the evening), I simply add the second drape and tie the end panels together. Viola! A full pavilion with a 10’ diameter floor and 6 plus feet of headroom. Tons of room.
Finished, “flat-rolled” seams:
When sewing the panels together, I use a finished, rolled edge. It isn’t required, but it makes a clean pavilion with no ragged edges.
• Lay out two panels so that the bottom panel has the outside face down, and the top panel is outside face up.
• Lay the top edges of two panels together so the right edge of the panel on top is approx ¾” from the edge of the one below, with both tops flush. Pin the two pieces together along the edge so there will be no drift.
• Sew closely along the edge of the top panel down the length to the base. The two panels are now sewn together, but not finished.
• Turn the panels around to switch directions to start from the base.
• Lay the two panels out flat (instead of on top of each other). The outside face of both panels should now be face up, with the bottom panel folded over at the seam and the top panel laying flat.
• Fold the edge of the top panel under to create a flat-rolled edge. This rolled edge should tuck neatly up against the inside seam.
• Sew down this flat-roll along it’s edge. Try to lay the rolled edge down flat and hold it far enough along that you progress smoothly from one section to the next without causing pinched or buckled edges. (You will need to roll the edge this way in small sections of 4 – 6” at a time as you sew down the panel.)
The five panels for the back wall section will need to be sewn together in this manner. (Then again on the other three front panels).
After the panels are sewn together, the entire outside edge of the panel unit needs to be rolled in a similar “double flat-fold” method.
• Fold the edge under approx. ¼” and then again another ¼’ and sew down along the inside edge. (If you sew along the outside edge, you will miss holding down the fold in some spots and it will unroll leaving a rough edge.) Double-flat roll makes a clean, finished edge and it also strengthens the fabric.
After the edges are finished, we need to attach stake loops at each bottom corner, and small loops at the tops for the frame spokes.
• Fold the 6” pieces of webbing in half and sew onto the inside of the panels at each seam. (The top loops will slide onto the ends of the spokes, so make sure the loops are large enough for the spokes to go through but not too large, or the panels will sag badly.)
I sew mine along the edge of the panel first, and then sew a box pattern along the edges of the webbing. There will be considerable pull on these points, so make sure they are attached well.
Tie-cords also need to be sewn onto the sunshade top.
• Bring the top of the pavilion into your sewing area and take the ends off the spokes. When the material is off, find the center of the eight edge panels and sew on a 6” tie, 3” in from the edge, on the inside.
Again, tack the ties on securely. I sew back and forth across the end to secure, then turn the material and stitch up the tie ½”, turn the material and tack it across again.
• Sew a tie-cord onto the top edge of each of the eight wall panels.
Find the middle of each of the side panel tops and attach a tie at the edge. These will tie to the sunshade ties you just added in the previous step. (They keep the sag gap from getting too big).
The final step.
• Sew ties onto the outside edges of the wall panels.
I placed three on each edge of mine. (With the loops top and bottom and the three ties it is makes five connections per edge. It seems to be plenty.) One tie is centered and one each, halfway between.
Another method is to measure down from the top a certain distance and mark each edge for the three or four ties you will put on. That way, they will match up when they are hung, and be in the correct position to tie together.
You’re done. Nothing to it. Now for the set up. There are a few tricks to make it easy.
• Drive (or screw in) your portable hole in the center of the area you wish to set up in and place your sunshade in the holder.
• Raise the top to the bottom adjustment, not all the way up. This allows some slack in the material.
• Start with the spoke you wish to be the front edge of your back wall and slip the top material off the end of the spoke.
• Take the upper corner of the back panel and slip the top loop over the spoke. Replace the top over the spoke end. Make sure you have the correct corner, so the outside is out.
• Do the same for the other five spokes. The weight of the side panels may pull the sunshade over, so have someone assist by holding it upright until you have the bottom stakes in.
• Tie the inside top panel ties to the sunshade top ties.
• Raise the sunshade to its fully open position.
• Take a bottom front corner and stake it down.
• The correct placement will be straight out from the top point and out far enough that it just touches the ground. Make sure it is not pulled askew, too far out or too close in. A trick to finding the exact distance out every time is to make a cord with a loop on the end that can go around the bottom of the center pole. This cord has a mark or knot at the correct distance out from the center. It should be around 5’ for a 10’ diameter floor. (Yours may vary slightly according to panel length, seam allowances and center pole length. You need to set it up correctly the first time to be able to mark the cord for the right distance out.)
• Stake all the way around.
You are done!
To add the front panel section, drop the top back to the lowest position. Place the panels on the spokes like you did with the back and raise the top back up.
Good Job. Great Tent! Nice Encampment!
Note: The same principle can be used for other sized parasols, but the slope of the sidewalls will be less.
A 9’ parasol with 60” material will still work, but the sides will be much more upright (almost straight walled).
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