uneven varnish - any advice?

[Bethanne]

We have just made a den in the attic of our garage, and today I varnished the tongue and groove pine ceiling and sides. I used Translac varnish and was advised that one coat would do, but it looks uneven and blotchy. What now?

Ours went like this. Looked great sanded, but patchy when clear varnish on. Builders thought it was something in the wood, so they re-varnished with a (v pale) colour and it was fine.

Had to sand down the windowsills in our house again with finer grade sanding sheet and used varnish with a bit of a colour stain in it to get it looking non blotchy.

The garage den sounds lovely - you must be handy!