The infamous Henson stitch...

[erniebert1234ss]

Do you do the stitch by hand or by machine? I'm going to try to learn to sew by hand; Does a machine work wonders in the costuming department or not? I'm basically a slave to a machine to create myself and my puppets some wonderful outfits. Does anybody know what the Henson stitch is and how to do it or am I out on a limb? Thanx in advance!

BJ

 

[Whatever]

I think Toastcrumbs mentioned it somewhere, you can look up his posts.

 

[Beebers]

I had a stitch in my side recently but I'm pretty sure it wasn't the Henson stitch. Been out on some limbs lately too. Ravagefrackle might also be able to describe it to you, perchance.

 

[Puppetplanet]

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=1373&page=1&pp=15

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=9280&highlight=henson+stitch

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=15687&highlight=henson+stitch



Try those links to old threads on the same subject.

 

[ravagefrackle]

RICKLY posted this on one of those threads(no pun intended)
seems like as good a time as any to re post it,

all i can say is that there is no one right way to stich, whip stiching and baseball stiches work great, what you really need is patients, and practice,

you cany rush it, and expect to re-thread your needle several times ,

any way here is that original post

" The myth of a magical "Henson Stitch" is pretty much just that - a myth. Don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise. A good stitch for hand-sewing fleece is what is frequently referred to as a baseball stitch. It is particularly successful with fleece and fur fabrics because it creates a stitch which is sort of zig-zaggy, not hard and straight like a sewing machine will make (side note: many people who make puppets for Henson don't even USE the "Henson Stitch" - they use teeny tiny little whip stitches, which are also very successful). While it is no mystery, it IS hard to describe verbally. With the RIGHT sides of the fabric together, push your threaded needle into the RIGHT side of one of the pieces of fabric, close to the edge between the two facing sides, so it comes out the WRONG side. Now loop the needle around towards where the two pieces come together, and again, push it into the RIGHT side of the opposite piece of fabric so it comes out the WRONG side. Three warnings: the stitches have to be very close to the edge of the fabric, but not so close that the edge will ravel; the stitches have to be fairly small; and the tension of the stitches has to be consistent or you will end up with a messy-looking seam. It is certainly MUCH slower than whip-stitching. It is also usually necessary to pick the fleece/fur fibers out of the seam and trim away any errant, over-long fibers."

 

[BorkBork]

Here's the stich:

You put the needle through the fabric, make a loop, go through the loop and back again, then make an @-sigh wirh the thread and go through the middle with the thread, do the whole thing in reverse, and then repeat until finished

 

[erniebert1234ss]

Here's the stich:

You put the needle through the fabric, make a loop, go through the loop and back again, then make an @-sigh wirh the thread and go through the middle with the thread, do the whole thing in reverse, and then repeat until finished

Boy am I glad you responded, Bork! I'll copy-and-paste that to MS Word!!!

BJ

 

[ScrapsFlippy]

Having had the pleasure of working with creature shop built puppets from Bear in the Big Blue House, I can attest that the "Henson Stitch" is done by hand, and really does hide the seams (even at close range on a furry guy like Pip or Pop.)

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Yes but it's not really a proprietary stitch...Don Sahlin or whomever first "discovered it" for the Muppets really just stumbled on to a variation of a stitch that has been around in needlework forever.

The reason you won't see seams in a puppet is because whoever it was sewn by was very good. Someone who can't sew well could use the "Henson stitch" and the seam would still be visible.

 

[erniebert1234ss]

Good point, Buck. Thanx for all your help!

BJ