Tent trials- setbacks and progress

So I have been very busy with the tent. I have finished one curtain wall section, but unfortunately I have to wait until tomorrow to sew the other one. Amazingly I have only broke two sewing machine needles. I had bought 3 new heavy duty needles before I started this sewing project, but one rolled away and can't be found, I broke one, and the third must be flawed, because every 20 stitches or so, it slices through the thread. Saturday morning the needle I broke was towards the end of the wall curtain so I suffered thru the last three straps and a short hem with the flawed needle, but there is no way I will do that for an entire wall curtain. So I have to wait until a trip to town to get new needles.

Also when we were in town getting rope for the guy lines we forgot to include the ropes supporting the peaks, so we need to get more rope on our trip to town.

 On the positive side, we have the frame finished. My DH used his tools to taper the 4x4 posts, sand all the wood, drill holes, create a base, bend and sharpen metal stakes, and created the guy lines for the peak. Then he put it all together with some fancy shelf brackets. Here is a pic of it erected in our yard.

Since I was unable to sew the other curtain wall, I have been busy with other tent related things. I have all the toggles cut for the walls to attach to the roof. I also have the roof entirely painted. I used exterior latex paint, thinned down to 1 part paint 2 parts water. The reason I thinned down the paint is because I want the paint to be soaked up by the canvas, not just a layer on top that can flake off.

Painting tips, tricks and errors

1) Paint thinned down this much is messy, It will run slighty, and the color will not be completly even. Do not have someone help you who does not know how to work with thinner paints. If you want crisp lines, soild colors, or something less delicate, do not water it down so much. Personaly I like character, plus I would rather not have the paint crack or peel off.

2) Do not use crayon to mark you design on your canvas..... the wax will show thru, doesn't matter what color.

3) Go slow and be carefull paint drips get soaked into the canvas and can't be removed, and can be hard to cover up.

I still have not been able to set up the roof on the poles, due to the lack of rope, but tommorow after I water seal it I am hoping to get it up.