Bill
figured out on paper just how much canvas we would need for a tent 7 feet
wide by 9-1/2 feet long, which he estimated would be about large enough
to hold us. It took 34 yards, 30 inches wide. Then we visited the village
store to make our purchase. Canvas we found a little too expensive for us,
but a material called drill seemed about right. It cost ten cents a yard,
but since we wanted such a quantity of it the price was reduced to a total
of $3.00. We repaired to the attic to lay out the material.
First we cut out four lengths of 5 yards and 26 inches each. The strips
were basted together, lapping the edges 1 inch and making a piece 17 feet
2 inches long by 9 feet 9 inches wide. Mother sewed the breadths together
on the machine, using a double seam, as in sail making; that is, two
parallel rows of stitching were sewed in; one along each overlapping edge,
as shown in Fig. 38. A 1 inch hem was then turned and sewed at the ends of
the goods, so that the piece measured exactly 17 feet long. It served for
the roof and side walls of the tent. Our next operation was to cut three
strips 11 feet long, and sew them together with a double seam as before.
This piece was now slit along the center line m, Fig.
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