repairing a torn Bell Tent

One of the real beauties of using a Canvas tent is that it can be repaired, often with nothing more than a needle and cotton thread. Unlike synthetic tents, canvas tents aren't ruined when they get damaged, they just accumulate more character with every repair.

Repairs should be on the outside of the tent to prevent water from soaking into the fabric.  Try to keep stitching runs tight and close, and if  you need to use a patch it's best to use a diamond shape, with the peak uppermost to allow water to run off or disperse more quickly.  You can find more information on the Soulpad website.
My tent doesn't have any rips or tears in the flysheet, but the doorway is torn and the stitching is coming away form the roof cap.

The doorway has torn away from where it meets the roof.  You can see where the previous owner has added stitches on more than one occasion in an attempt to prevent the damage from getting any worse, but really this needs a proper repair.

I took my sewing machine out to the garden and set it up.  The tent is big and bulky so fabric management becomes important.
Normally I don't use pins when I'm sewing, but in this case I can't see both sides of the fabric so I pinned them together both to hold them and as a guide to where I need to stitch.

The tent's made of heavy fabric, so I used a thick needle.  The holes are bigger than the originals, but canvas is a forgiving fabric and those will close over as the fibres expand over time.

Sewing double rows of stitches up both sides of the doorway gave a solid repair as far as it went but I couldn't access the very top of the door or the apex of the roof with the sewing machine to complete the repairs.  I'll need to sew that part by hand.