Tipi project: Part three

Last days I worked a lot on the tipi, despite this horrible cold that won't leave me alone. Guess I should rest, but when I have a project going on I just have to finish it!

So yesterday I sewed the 4 big pieces together. I have this amazing sewing machine, a Husqvarna from 1940-something. It has been working amazingly well. it can only do straight seams but I don't really need any other for the tipi. Unfortunately the machine isn't mine. It's my ex-girlfriends. But if I got the chance to buy one I would do it right away! It even beats my Bernina 830.

So I sewed the big pieces together with lapped seam not sure if this is the correct English word). Either way it's done like this:

It's important to check that the seam end up the right way, so the rainwater flows off the seam and don't get stuck there.

When I cut the fabric I made sure to mark the center on each piece. So when I needled them together I got them centered. The first part of the lap seam is quite easy. You can just let the fabric go on the outside. The second part however you need all the fabric at one side of the seam to go though the machine. To make this easier I made sue it was the smaller side I took through, and I rolled up the fabric on both sides of the seam.

My house is quite small, definitely not big enough for a whole tipi. So when needleing the pieces together and rolling it I took it outside. I got lucky and didn't have any rain. I got some ants and leaves on the floor but I can live with that.

All pieces sewn together.

Rolled up and ready for the last seam.

Since a tipi needs to be round I needed a big flat surface to draw on. My lawn isn't very flat. So I had to find another place to do the drawing. Unfortunately I forgot the camera. But I did it on an empty parking lot. I used an old tire and a stick to make the center point. Then attached a rope to draw the (half)circle. I cut it at home using my, if I may say so myself, awesome home made rotary cutter.

I then proceeded to sew the longest seam on the tipi. I folded the edge of the circle around a hemp rope and sewed straight through it. I thought this would never work, way too thick... But the machine did it as easily as if I was sewing in cotton candy. Or well, almost. I did break two or three needles. But except that there was no trouble. Not that it's important that you sew this seam on the inside of the tipi. Otherwise it starts collecting rainwater and rots.

Late night sewing.

The next day I proceeded with the middle of the straight side. Which is the highest point of the tipi. This is where you attached the last tipi pole to raise the cover. It's a critical part of the tipi, also because it is the area that needs to fit around the meeting point of the poles. So it needs to be strong and the right size (which you most easily get from other tipi descriptions.

After some measuring I made the lines from a form I cut out, to get it the same on both sides. I cut inside the lines though because I need some fabric to wrap around the rope later.

Before adding the rope in the picture above I added the smoke flaps. On them I have a rope extending from the lower edge up to the top and over to the other flap. I also added a 2 meter rope for attaching the cover to the pole on the end of the middle flap.

Finally today I cut the doors. Deciding the width was quite hard, theoretically it's 65cm now. I will see how it turned out when the tipi is up :) I also hemmed the edges of the door using a separate piece formed after the side of the door, to make it more stable.

That's all for today! I'm starting to get done with all the big pieces. Soon all that's left is the boring hole sewing and making the loops for attaching it to the ground. And after that of course I need to make the door and the lining.