Mouth problems

[biblebetty]

No, you see this puppet was made with the material stretch going the wrong way. It is tight at the mouth so is the mouth is stretched again to wide it will pop out. now the cactus the stretch in the material is going up and down so the mouth can be open as wide as you can and it does not effect the material.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

What if you just clip the material where the mouth folds and then glue each part seperately down toward the corners? That would release some of the pull when the mouth opens up. You may need to put a little bit of material in the corner to hide the clipping, but it likely wouldn't be too visible to audience members.

 

[biblebetty]

I had already tried this with another gift that I had made the same mistake and tried to fix it, & made a big mess. I had to start all over again. It just doesn't work. but having it stretch with the mouth of the puppet works perfect. We just did are performance for the Easter program and the cactus was a hit, and even with the mouth problems the gifts held up well.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Awesome! You know, up close you might notice the mouth problems, but will the audience from their distance away? With photos, you can just photoshop the problems to correct them.

Yay for a great show!

 

[Show and Tell]

Betty, do you think you might be able to take that part of the puppet apart without damaging it? if so maybe you can remove the mouthplate material and replace it with new. Goo gone works if its just contact cement holding it. If its stitched thats easy. Hot glue can be a bit messy to remove and reapply but if you use a scaper to take the glue off as you heat it up it cleans up ok too.

 

[biblebetty]

the way the puppet is maded is very drifferent from other regular puppets. if it's not done right the first time you might damage the box. the design is an orginal and was created as i went along. I made the little one first, and saw how I could chg things and then made it alittle better with the red one. as I finished the red one I saw other ways of making is better and the green one was created, and even still there are problems that if I make other one there will be changes to make it easyer for the puppeteer to manipulate the puppet easyer. that's why to explain the whale is difficult, I would have to strip the whale so you could see how the foam was set. I looked at how a whale is structured I had to make chgs along the way. Its difficult to explain and you've seen all the angles except the bottom and that where you stick you hand to move the mouth.

 

[Show and Tell]

betty, why no contact info or way to email you?

 

[biblebetty]

At the time I joined I was changing internet providers, and since I have been on the forum no one as ask for my email. and besides I don't know how to change my profile. I've been really busy getting ready for 3 more shows and i'm now building two trees for a story call the three trees. I also handle the costumeing and maintance for all the puppets. Its been a very tuff month, heck it been a tuff life. I also teach three studies, volenteer at the county jail for women, I work at a college so we are getting ready for the Summer registration, teach at a half way house for women, oversee two ministries, Just trained Jr. high students in puppetry for a speech meet, I'm taking class at college, and counsel students, I have two children and a husband and in the process of trying to lose 71 pounds (have already lost 23.5lbs yea!!!). and some how I'm not dead yet. Other then that I very happy to puppeteer & build my little friends, that is a dream I have had for 20 years. That is why my response time to this thread is not quick or my answers not in detail.

 

[Show and Tell]

I have 4 kids,a wife and I have a big production coming up May 15th that I have to make 14 puppets, train new puppeteers and practice a new set of skits and build a new stage for. I still have my Jr. Youth to lead and Sunday School to teach, music ministry to direct and we just moved so my house is a wreck. I'm also in the process of building my puppet workshop and was promoted at my job without a pay increase (more responsibility but no benifit)and I think my cat is pregnant. I think I can relate.

 

[biblebetty]

Why are we still standing? Does your wife or kids help with the puppets. I'm very fortunate. My husband, daughter, son are puppeteers. My husband makes the sets, my Daughter writes the scripts, and my son performs the little kid puppets. We also have 6 others puppeteer on our team that do driffent jobs. How many are on your team? are you the only adult? I still don't know how to change my profile but if you want detail about the whale my e-mail is alice.sparks3@verizon.net