Puppet Contest 2007

[staceyrebecca]

Still, cilantro is nice

And thank you for the whipstitch info! I ended up purchasing a 1980 Edition of the Reader's Digest Encyclopedia of sewing for 99 cents + shipping on amazon. Yes, I'm a big spender!

Gordon, did you SEE my puppet from John Kennedy's workshop? Oh I'll bring it! I'll bring it hard. Fairytales are my forte, but without the accent thingie because I'm not sure how to do an accent thingie with this machine.

Also, the salted nut roll was DELICIOUS. The nut goodie is still awaiting a special occasion.

GETTING,
stacey

Also... http://puppetpie.blogspot.com will contain the trials and tribulations of a contestant.

 

[staceyrebecca]

Gosh, I know this is off-topic to the original post, but its keeping the thread alive, right? Right?

Ok, so I've finished the base puppet, but I did wonder as I was making it, if I were to make it again (and I'm sure I will), can I expect the seams/puppet to change a whole lot if I forego the whipstitch and do a backstitch instead? In my brain, backstitching is a lot stronger and I can do it *so* much faster than I can a whipstitch. But then i'm not sure how the seam will lay in the final piece once its turned in comparison to a whipstitch.

Thanks guys!
-stacey

 

[spcglider]

Ahhh.... now it is time for you to snatch the pebble from my hand, grasshoppah!

Confucious say: "Backstitch when necessary. But know limits of backstitch."

Or something like that.

Frankly, I have no idea what it means. I say give it a shot.

If your puppet implodes and creates a nasty old black hole that sucks in all life in this quadrant of the galaxy crushing it to a singularity with it's massive graviton waves and spitting it out on the butt-end of a wormhole in the gamma sector...

well, it probably isn't a good idea twice, is it?

-G

 

[puppetsmith]

Gordon, I could read your posts all day and be thoroughly entertained.

The reason for the recommendation of the whipstitch or baseball stitch boils down to seam coverage. The closer you can stitch to the edge of the fabric (preferably a fleece with a nap) the less visible the seam will be. You almost have to think - "I'm weaving these two pieces together, not stitching them together".

A back stitch is perfectly acceptable. It will give you a seam more similar to that of a sewing machine. Even machine sewing is fine. You can still get seam coverage depending on the properties of the fabric (antron would probably do the best in that case).

 

[spcglider]

Bezalel,

If I could find a way to make a living posting all day for your entertainment, I'd do it GLADLY! LOL!

-G

 

[staceyrebecca]

Thank you guys!

If I create a giant void, I'm entering THAT into once upon a puppet.

 

[spcglider]

Well, I'm DEEP into making this puppet now. I'm pretty happy so far.

In order to not chop my own legs off, I'm gonna be a stinker and not reveal what the character is. But I can tell you its a female and she is relatively obscure in the fairy tale genre. She appears mostly in Scottish/European fairy tales.

So tonight I need to go to (ugh!) Michael's Crafts and find her some hair. The reason I say UGH about Michael's is that the place is owned by the jerks who fully sponsored the "swiftboating" tactics in the last national elections. Yup.. .I'm a nasty ol' liberal. Look out! I'll corrupt your children! Bwa ha ha ha ha! (Yeah.. I'll make them watch PUPPET SHOWS!)

Anyway, I try to avoid shopping at Michael's Crafts whenever I can, but sometimes I simply can't find what I need anywhere else. But you know, I'm still gonna try before I give them another dime.

-Gordon

 

[staceyrebecca]

Hey Gordon,

I'll reveal a wonderful secret. Etsy.com is a great place to find hand-spun yarns! I also get a lot of raw hand-dyed wool and mohair from them, too. Just do a search on yarn. You can usually request custom colors, too.

Avoiding Michael's,
-stacey

 

[spcglider]

Ahhhhhh... good resource. Thanks!

-G

 

[spcglider]

Hooray! My Once Upon A Puppet Contest entry is now IN.

I finally had the opportunity to get some pictures of her and write up a description.

Deadline is only a couple days away!

-Gordon