Backpacking Tent Makeover...

...Mom gave Scout this tent as a play tent years ago...it's a little one-man pop up tent made by Ozark Trails...and he definitely played with it...in the yard and in the house...for years...

...we'll be hiking and backpaking in the Grand Canyon soon and as I'll be the only girl there once again...I'll need a tent all to myself...and I don't want to carry a full sized one all the way down to Phantom Ranch and back up...to the South Rim...so I thought I'd just carry this little one of Scout's ...

...a pad and sleeping bag fit perfectly inside it...and it's truly a one person tent...good thing I'm not claustrophobic at all...but as you can see...it doesn't have any screens covering the openings...and the main purpose of a tent, as far as I'm concerned, is to keep the little critters out while I'm sleeping...

...so I went to Stuff Mart and bought the two longest black zippers I could find and some fine black mesh...the zippers were 1.79 each and the mesh was 74¢...so for less than $5...I'll have a one person backpacking tent...

...only one side will zip open...so with gold thread I stitched the mesh to the top back of the tent...

...then with black thread I stitched the mesh around the rest of the opening...I didn't cut it to fit yet...I'll trim it after it's stitched in place...

...now the back window is sealed shut...

...I just trimmed the mesh off close to the stitching...that window is perfect...

...for the front...I started at the top and stitched the mesh to the top of the tent with the gold thread again...and let the mesh hang down in place over the front of the tent...I didn't want to get it too tight or in a bind...then I pinned the zippers in place on top of the mesh...matching the curve of the semi-circular window...

...and stitched the closed zipper to the mesh with black thread...then I trimmed away the excess mesh from the zipper...

...opened the zippers up and stitched them to the sides of the tent...

...and there you have it...one stationary screen window and one zippered window...ready for the trip...this is in the laundry/sewing room...but I'll be sure to take a picture of it in use at Phantom Ranch too...