Homemade oilcloth tent - from a dust sheet!

When confronted by a problem in my own life I often think What Would Maximus Ironthumper Do.

How very random, and that's why I love this channel - every days a school day

Max, don't give up your day job ! Credit for trying to use the machine on camera and well done for not sewing your shirt to the dust cloth ! I just wanted to show you that in the back of the stem of the needle pole is a cut out slit, this is for cutting the threads, as you don't need scissors. Pull your work out of the back, lift it up and the two threads should fall into the tilted slot. Pull your work towards you and the threads will cut against the slot. Also the front of the machine towards your left should open, (see the hinge on the back) push the front corner and inside should be a downwards facing light bulb. Switch that on and you will find it much easier to see where you are sewing... Best of Luck mate. xxx

"Just chuck it all in" hahahah! that was the best bit for me

As an American Eagle Scout, albeit 30 years after that particular Boy's life article, I'm pretty sure the vast majority of this style tents were in reality sewn by a harried housewife on her well-worn Singer machine for her Scoutmaster husband or Scout son. That being said, the ability to hand-sew made me quite a bit of money during summer camps and Jamborees. Scouting went away from this sort of DIY approach when I was in, But my Nephew tells me that they're going back to the old approaches in lots of Troops.

In a strange coincidence, my father in law was an 'old school' painter and decorator and when he retired he gave my all his gear. Included were half a dozen drip sheets which were... Ta Dah - ex boy scout tents! Each is 12' x 8' with grommets at the corners and at each mid point along the sides. They are a very heavy, close weave canvass and extremely hard wearing. My f-i-l had them for close on 20 years and I've had them for another 10 years and they're still in excellent condition. I've even used a couple of the best ones as garden tents for the kids!

This is absolutely fascinating. The little corners of history and technology that I had only the haziest knowledge of.

I had a cheap Millets canvas tent back in the early 70s. It was fine in light rain, but in a downpour, it was like there was a fine mist descending. On the inside. ☔

Was a Scout in Queens New York in the late 1960s. Oddly enough our tents were surplus British WWI army 2 man pup tents. Oiled green canvas - heavy bastards - it was a bad day if you drew a short straw and had to pack one in and do a five mile hike into the deep snow of the Catskills

i love that you used your workmate to put your sowoning machine on

ive found if i mix 3 tubes of silicone clear bathroom and windows sealant, with 2 x1 litre bottles of white spirit , mix completely ,now you soak every thing to be water proofed like tent ,backpack ,for example ,once its been soaking for 10-15 minutes ,pull it out and hang to dry .Once white spirit evaporates it leaves the silicone in the fabric

I live in Italy, not Umbria but there’s pockets of clay here I’ve used to make pottery and tiles and a nice big pizza oven that is pure orange 🍊 red terracotta colour. Doesn’t require any filtering at all, absolutely lovely stuff.

Last year, NighthawkInLight did a similar sort of video on using silicone sealant and Naphtha to waterproof bedsheets for use as tarps, basically the same process as with the linseed oil & spirits, but a different waterproofing material, and he soaked his sheets rather than painted, meant to try it myself with some dustsheets, just never got around to it... :)

Made a bivvy bag out of waxed cotton, double stitched edges,then proofed it even more,bees wax and Barbour oil mixed to liquid,cooled to a flat bar. Great result.

This brings back memories of my mother making a fully functioning awning for our touring caravan so we could fit in all seven of us on holidays.

Thought you would be using tailors or dress making chalk to mark out!! Learned my trade in this stuff in the fifties and it came in handy making and repairing leather seats in the vintage car. Problem is we have bigger hands than the ladies when it comes to the sewing machine. Watching my late mother making double skinned silk lampshades in hours put me to shame. Super post, thank you.

Are you taking us camping Max? ooooo, so excited.

Woah I didn't know that about linseed oil and cloths 😮 every day is a school day. Looks good 👍 Look forward to part two!

Hardest part of using a sewing machine is actually threading the sod! The route the thread takes from reel to needle is machine dependent but then comes the fun part of threading the bobbin holder and then getting the upper thread to pick up the bobbin thread. The sewing bit after that is fairly straightforward! (Obviously things do get way more technical with tensions, choice of foot and best type of stitch etc, but hopefully you get my drift!)

Love it Max! Looking forward to the results. As I boy I grew up reading all my uncles books from the 40’s and 50’s. Though typically of me I just daydreamed about doing the ‘boys own’ projects! Except for the bow. Which led to considerable consternation for my grandpa when mixed with his greenhouse 🤷🏻‍♂️