Froglet.....the frog puppet

I don't name them.....the children do!

Duck, duck.....Chicken!

More ducks, and a chicken puppet.   The chicken really ought to be red, as in the little red hen, but I had enough white fleece left over from something and wanted to use it up.

You'll notice each duck is slightly different - I'm trying out various eye and fabric colors, partly because I like variation & partly because I'm cheap & digging through the remnants bins means "you get what you get"

I think some of the ducks need bows or something to spiffy them up.  Perhaps I'll get some inspiration this weekend.

Each of these puppets has a head that is formed in the hoop on my embroidery machine, and some three-dimensional features.  The beak, comb, and duck bill are also embroidery files, making the cutting of these pieces simpler - just follow the stitch lines.  The body is machine-sewn from pattern pieces and the head & beaks are attached with hand stitching.  A little fiberfill gives some shaping to the faces.  The puppets are large enough for a small adult hand to fit inside - giving plenty of room to grow with the child.

 

As an aside, I feel obligated to make a grey duck at some point in the near future.... I've learned through friends that some regions of the country (to remain nameless) don't play "duck-duck-goose".  They grow up playing "duck-duck-grey duck" which is much more difficult to say and somewhat confusing why a grey duck would even matter, given all the various colorations of ducks that are readily observed in the wild. 

DIY thread storage

Here is my solution for storing thread.  Cheap pegboard / perfboard from the hardware store - some places will even cut it to size for you.  1/4" dowels cut down to 4" lengths. 

Apply wood glue to the dowel, place in hole on the pegboard, allow to dry.   Repeat, leaving enough room between adjacent dowels for the spools to fit.

I store any color-matched bobbins on the same dowel as the thread to keep colors handy.   Each pegboard is in a drawer of a cabinet, with no particular organization scheme.   These drawers are about 6" deep, which keeps stray thread ends nicely contained.

Quack!

Another puppet...the duck.

 

This little ducky will be my first puppet pattern for sale from this website.

 

The duck is made from fleece and requires an embroidery machine for the features.  An alternate view allows for a front body with contrasting wing colors, to make a mallard. 

 

The digital delivery includes a puppet pattern (PDF), instructions (PDF), and an embroidery file (several common formats)

Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!

The little pigs and the big bad wolf are all complete (one of the pigs has been kidnapped by a small child, named, and permanently attached to a small hand)

And I'll huff....and I'll puff....

And I'll finish the wolf next time.
The first stitchout of the wolf face is done.   The ears need to be bigger.  The eyes need realigning, some of the fabric shows through, but overall it looks acceptable. The snout also needs to be designed, too.  It will be attached on the circle under the eyes.  For anyone thinking these are easy to make, I have about 4 hours in the digitizing of the wolf face at this point - not particularly a lot, but not trivial either. 

The living room

The new couch.

And the two fabrics I'm debating for throw pillows.  I think the print.  The solid will probably be used to reupholster the old couch in its new basement location.

Little pig, little pig....

In a later post, I'll be documenting a doorway puppet theater (held in place by a spring tension rod).  The puppets, however, are tonight's subject.

Since the embroidery extravaganza of purses went over so well, I am in the process of making next year's Christmas presents.  The plan is to make puppets for all the kids, in a variety of characters, and making a puppet theater for each family.  Each puppet will be a combination of embroidery and sewing - embroidered features, outlines, etc and basic stitching for assembly, with some hand stitching thrown in to keep me honest.

After a few of the puppet designs are completed, I will be sharing and/or selling the embroidery files.  If there are beta testers who are willing to provide some test data (reports on the stitchout, assembly process, etc), send me an outline of your review procedure & machine details and I will choose a few to receive free files.

The pig ears, tail, and hooves are stitched out first (with the option of stitching the hooves directly to the pig body or making stand alone hooves).  Then, the face is stitched in the hoop, attaching ears and the back of the head last.  The body is regular machine sewing with a hem around the bottom.  Finally, the heads are stuffed with fiber fill and the body is attached with hand stitching.  Hooves, tail, and the bow tie were hand stitched to finish them off.

Approximate fabric usage is 1/3 yard of 54" fleece. (Get remnants, it's not worth paying cut prices).  Fleece, anti-pill fleece, soft minky fabrics and terry cloth would all be good choices.  Felt would be okay, but I don't like how felt wears with heavy usage and washing.

--Mickey

Merry Christmas To Me!

Recently, the sewing stuff has taken over my office.  Looking for something to contain it, I found this armoire second-hand.  The color matches the rest of our woodwork perfectly, and the price was great.

This is meant to be an office-in-a-box sort of thing, so there is lots of space, a file drawer, smaller drawers, pull out printer shelves, storage for small stuff, storage for large stuff.  It will work out well.  There is even a fold-away work surface that would fold up on the right hand side and tuck into this, and fold down for a desk.  It's not in the photos as I haven't decided if it's going to be installed or not.

Clearly, I just shoved every half-finished project into there for now.  It needs some organization.

 

--Mickey