The Tent Bag

Guest post from the hubs here. A couple of years back I ruined a tent bag while backpacking with the then 5-year-old Cinderella (don't ask... actually do, just not now, that's a subject for a different blog post). The material had already started to rip right by the drawstring, and it seemed that everytime I went camping it tore a little more. This time it had torn enough that when we were still about a mile away from the car, the tent started spilling out of the bag, which makes for quite an uncomfortable hike.

Fast forward to the present.

This time of year the cold weather always seems to inspire me to make plans for spring and summer - anybody that knows me knows that this means I start thinking, planning, and talking incessantly about at least one of the following three things: gardening, hiking, and camping. Right now it's a combination of the latter two since I'm planning a backpacking trip with my brothers, so I've been taking inventory on my gear.

Oh yeah... the tent bag.

(Picture me crestfallen)

It's a problem.

I asked Julie if she could fix it. She took one look at it and I knew by the look on her face that the outlook was grim. She told me that she didn't think it was fixable. Then she launched into all kinds of sewing jargon talking about what it would take to make a new one.

That was this morning.

This afternoon we bought the materials for about $15.

Tonight she made the bag.

Behold the new bag compared to the old one:


...and the new bag, stuffed with the tent:


That's right, who married an awesome seamstress? In our years together this is one of the most meaningful things she has done for me. If anybody wants to know the way to a man's heart, just find something that he's passionate about, and find some way to use your skills to support him in his passion. At least that worked for this man.

Oh, and we have enough material left over to make not one, but two smaller stuff sacks. Nice!