The $45 Baker Tent
(Continued from yesterday)

Turning again to Harbor Freight, I found their Number 38109, 9’ x 12’ canvas drop cloth (times three), to be the ideal starting point for a home made Baker Tent. The list price is $16.99 each, but they happened to be on sale for $14.99 on the day I visited the store. The 10 oz. cotton canvas has a bit of a coarse weave and likely won’t acquit itself too well in even a moderate rain storm, but since I won’t be camping in the tent, that’s of little concern to me. The material is light enough to sew using a typical home sewing machine equipped with a heavy duty needle to handle heavy thread.

The factory-finished edges of the drop cloths are well done; I plan on retaining as many of these edges as possible. With three 9’ x 12’ drop cloths, it is possible to construct a 9’ x 8’5” tent with a 6’ high opening and still have a few extra pieces left (for hand lettered banners advertising the studio). Here are my patterns for cutting the three drop cloths (#1 will remain uncut, creating the back and the roof of the tent; the top of #3 will become a painted artistic backdrop that will hang inside the tent):