Making a puppet with Head and neck seperate from the body

[TopperFraggle]

Does anyone have advice for making a puppets head and neck sleeve seperate from the body? I know a good deal of the Muppets were done like this, with a long sleeve for the neck that fit into the body, and it seemed easier to me to tackle them one at a time. The only thing I haven't quite worked out yet is if the body will move around too much if it's not connected to the neck. Any solutions to that problem? Thanks.

 

[Was Once Ernie]

I learned this from the Muppets...

Pin the neck sleeve to the BOTTOM of the body. I've never had trouble with the body moving too much.

 

[Blink]

Does anyone have advice for making a puppets head and neck sleeve seperate from the body? I know a good deal of the Muppets were done like this, with a long sleeve for the neck that fit into the body, and it seemed easier to me to tackle them one at a time. The only thing I haven't quite worked out yet is if the body will move around too much if it's not connected to the neck. Any solutions to that problem? Thanks.

Hi TopperFraggle,

Perhaps the way you need to think about the neck is that it IS connected to the body, but only at the bottom of the puppet and it is NOt connected at the top (you are correct about that). If you sew the bottom of the sleeve to the bottom opening of the puppet, you should find that the "moveability" is still excellent, but it is connected and oriented properly (head facing forward with the puppet body).

Pinning will work as well, like Was Once Ernie has said. It is a different option. The sewing option is obviously more perminant.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[TopperFraggle]

Hmmm.... sounds like some snaps would do the trick. Thanks guys.

 

[Was Once Ernie]

The reason I like to pin rather than sew, is that, especially on my puppet with gloved hands, it's impossible to change his clothes with his head on. It would damage his head to try and squeeze it through the neck hole of a shirt.

Also, it's much easier to build spare bodies that are wearing different outfits than to build duplicate heads.

 

[Yahnke]

Arms Length has an awesome video that covers that technique! David uses a sleeve, but attaches is the the puppet body with velcroe..or however it's spelled. Try to get your hands on those videos or instructions. They are worth every penny- thanks again puppet planet!!!!!

 

[Jinx]

The Arms Length technique is the one that I have adopted. It does use velcro (this is the correct spelling) at the back of the neck / inside of body and also uses a flexible ring sewn into the bottom of the sleeve. In fact Garth (in my avatar) has only this ring, no velcro and he is very secure to perform with.

 

[Phantom]

I, too, use this technique on most of my puppets. The main benefit I see is storage, dressing (clothes not turkey) and with multiple bodies you can have really quick costume changes. Zip, flip and rip.