Antron Fleece- Hiding the seams

[TopperFraggle]

From what I have gleaned from past threads, the real secret to the seamless look with Antron fleece, isn't necessarily the stitch used, but using the fleece's individual hairs to hide the seam. I've got a great puppet made of Antron, btu my one complaint is that the seams show. Can anyone instruct me on a good way to fix that? I assume that you pull the fleece out of the seams a bit, but I didn't want to risk breaking a thread or anything. So any technique help is appreciated.

 

[puppetsmith]

Hey TopperFraggle. It's been my experience that the stitching does matter. I guess not necessarily the stitch, but hand stitching - even with a simple whipstitch - will always hide seams better than machine sewing. Machine sewing seems to trap (and hang onto) more of the fiber of the fleece. The puppet you have may be machine sewn.

I think the best thing you can do is pick at the seams with a straight pin. A straight pin shouldn't do any damage to the stitching but should release some fibers. I'd try that first and see if you are pleased with the result.

There is something else you could do, but you may not want to try it for the first time on a puppet that may be too valuable to you. The method is especially tricky on fleece that has been machine stitched.

I would try just picking the seams a bit first to see if that does it.

 

[TheGirlIsABear]

Are the seams in the fleece machine sewn? Can you turn the puppet's body inside out to do internal repairs?

 

[ravagefrackle]

it also depends on how close u are to the puppet ,

in person, in your hands, u will see the seems, it isnt going to make them completley invisible, if you hold kermit in your hands you can find his seems, , with out a picture i have no idea how bad this issue is on your puppet ,

 

[TopperFraggle]

Here are the only photos I have of him. http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=4153099&a=31938951&p=73062401 Yeah you can't quite tell in these. I do know that even if I pick the fleece out a little, tehre will be a noticeable "hump" where the seam is. But I figure every littlee bit helps.

One of my other puppets, made by Jarrod Boutcher here on the board has darn near invisible seams even right up close. So of course he's spoiled me for all my other puppets with "lesser seams".

 

[Jinx]

I think your puppet looks great!

To hide the seams on the one I built with Antron (http://home.mcn.net/~fantom/pages/alp1.html)
I simply used the tiny metal head of a pin and carefully picked out the nap of the fleece. I did do all the sewing by machine. The pictures of the sewn pieces show the seams quite clearly, but f you look at the finished pictures they are nicely disguised.

I think that part of it is simply knowing where the seams are! I had never seen a seam in wallpaper until I spent 3 months hanging wallpaper in commercial applications. Now I always see them!

 

[ravagefrackle]

Here are the only photos I have of him. http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=4153099&a=31938951&p=73062401 Yeah you can't quite tell in these. I do know that even if I pick the fleece out a little, tehre will be a noticeable "hump" where the seam is. But I figure every littlee bit helps.

One of my other puppets, made by Jarrod Boutcher here on the board has darn near invisible seams even right up close. So of course he's spoiled me for all my other puppets with "lesser seams".

i think u are over reacting just abit, in the photos i dont see anything

it could be thet the fleece is 12 oz. not 14 oz. which will affect the seem a bit, but over all it looks like a well made puppet, i would suggest not mucking around to much with it if its not something you are familiar with,

keep in mind puppets like this are generally meant to be see on stage or on Tv or film, were the seems will apear almost invicible, and since this seem is really not all that perceptiable in the photos im sure it is fine,

and if your audience is looking at the seems and not the puppet and the show its in then you have bigger worries that his seems,(im sure whatever you are performing is fine,thats just a saying i picked up in several theaters i have worked in)

so theier u go, good luck with him

 

[puppetsmith]

My guess is that if there are "noticeable humps" where the seams are, it was probably machine sewn and left untrimmed. But really, I agree with Ravage, overall it looks good. Personally, I'd leave him as is.

 

[practicecactus]

Has anyone ever tried to incorperate the seams into the design?
What I mean is, Having the seams where wrinkles in the face would be, or the frown lines on the face etc.

 

[TheGirlIsABear]

The Puppet Sebastian

Has anyone ever tried to incorperate the seams into the design?
What I mean is, Having the seams where wrinkles in the face would be, or the frown lines on the face etc.

This Puppet lives in Bufflo, NY, and is incredibe. I met him at the Toronto Muppet audition. He looks like an old, wise, fraggle, and has pin-ticks forming age lines across his face. They look amazing. They may not be on seam lines but they add so much character. I think Wes has pictures.

I also work with a puppet who's fleece pattern across his face is like a racoon, just to get the right fabric coverage I guess, but the hand stitching of the seams is so perfect that you have to look VERY closely to the face around the eyes to see the pattern. Beautiful work... James.