Henson Stitch

[Buck-Beaver]

I'm with MuppetQuilter, while we try to avoid hand stitching at all costs we're usually not ver successful - there is a hideous amount of hand sewing involved with making puppets! Also, if you are using Antron fleece many machines can't handle it well. Although I don't want to reboot the "Great Muppet Stitch" debate again, I will say I don't think it's done on a machine.

 

[DirthNader]

Ok. I see that I have a lot to learn about puppet making. I have never taken needle to cloth for anything. The only puppet I have ever attempted to build has a poster board understructure, cut into various shapes and then glued together in a three dimensional model.

I wish I had a camera or at least the knowhow to show you the results. I'm pretty proud of it. Of course, being made from cardboard, it is delicate and doesnt support anything heavy hanging from it, but it gets the job done.

Before finding this place, I never knew that there was a particular kind of material that people use in puppet making, so I just glued (with *eeek* Elmer's Glue) felt over the structure. There are few seams to begin with so I didn't have too much trouble avoiding the problem of gratuitous seam exposure, but the character does have a beak, and as felt is not too flexible, I was forced to cut the material to get around the curve leaving a rather dubious seam that is quite noticable.

By the way, is there such a thing as paper puppets. I knoe that it's somewhat cheap and the final product, as I have said before, is rather delicate, but the look is nice and I think it is something that I would like to look into as a beginners medium.

Thanks

 

[MuppetQuilter]

There is absolutely not one particular right way to make a puppet. Much of the puppet making discussion around here is specific to making Muppet-style puppets. But there are plenty of other types of puppets in the world and I would absolutely encourage you to experiment and work with whatever materials strike your fancy!

Have fun with it. If you like paper puppets, than make paper puppets. Elmers glue is very effective with paper and felt. It is not effective with foam, so if you decide to try foam, you'll need something different.

As far as getting felt over a beak or other curves and small spaces-- you can do something called 'easing.' You cut little slashes in the fabric (in the seam allowence-- the part that will not show) so you bend little sections around rather than one big, bulky bit of fabric. The slashes (usually quite small, less than an inch) allow the fabric to 'ease' over edges and around curves with a smooth look. I would experiment with this on some scraps before trying it on a project you have put a lot of time into. I'm not explaining it very well, but if you know someone who sews, ask them to show you how to clip fabric in curves, like when applying facing to a rounded neck edge or turning a tight corner.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Originally posted by MuppetQuilter
There is absolutely not one particular right way to make a puppet.

Oh there may be no one right way, but there sure are a lot of wrong ones!!!

 

[CBPuppets]

maybe this might help!

 

[TheCreatureWork]

This thread is an old thread from 2002 LOL

 

[CBPuppets]

This thread is an old thread from 2002 LOL

Oh Sorry ^^; I had no Idea

 

[argonautika]

I know this is an older post but the video is new. Am I too assume correctly that the stitch is done after other assembly? For example, if you have covered your foam head with a piece of fabric it is then that you do the stitch to essentially hide the seam that exists.

Thanks

 

[TheCreatureWork]

I know this is an older post but the video is new. Am I too assume correctly that the stitch is done after other assembly? For example, if you have covered your foam head with a piece of fabric it is then that you do the stitch to essentially hide the seam that exists.

Thanks

Correct. Or if you have an existing pattern that doesn't have a foam "skeletal" structure. For example I used it for Kermit and my version didn't have foam underneath. I also made a tutorial about the stitch a couple of years ago: