october 14, 2004

This is the first entry in my top secret (probably boring) puppet creation journal.

Background:

When we were in Edmonton this summer for Preacher & Martha's wedding, Palaver told me that Martha planned to trick Preacher and take him back to Toronto for his birthday (traditionally referred to as "Preachtoberfest"). Some weeks ago, I decided that what Preacher really needed for his birthday was Poet, the former best man. But Poet is in Kuala Lumpur with his wife & baby girl.

Question = How could I deliver Poet to Preacher in a reliable form?

Answer = a puppet Poet. Or as the Boy likes to call it, a Poeppet.

Problem: I've never made a puppet before. And I can't sew.

No problem: I was sure that I'd carry the day with brute confidence and $5 worth of colourful felt.

Step one: size & design.

I traced the Boy's hand for my template, adding a centimetre all-round for seams. But this approach, while charmingly punk rock, failed to account for the third dimension & I ended up with a puppet that could fit my hand, but not a male hand (i.e. Preacher's). Now, I know that this puppet won't be used to preach sermons or perform surgery, but it should be at least big enough to fit on his hand. Otherwise I've merely created another unreliable Poet avatar.

I decided that this first puppet child would be my "practice" puppet. I modelled it on Blake (my first flesh child), making a black t-shirt with a cute felt decal to match the one with a skull & crossbones we got in Chicago. I have yet to complete a face, but rest assured that we haven't heard the last of Blake puppet (it can't possibly be called a bluppet with this definition floating around)

Step two: redesign the prototype to account for man-hands.

Last night I did so, going so far as to cut out the new puppet from my new bolt of cream felt. Pinned together, it looks like this:

Tonight I will experiment with eyes on my Blake puppet. This has been your top-secret puppet update. Please don't tell Preacher or anyone in Edmonton (just to be sure!)

words & images (c) rocketmom, 2004.
as most puppetmaking concepts are pulled out of my butt, you're welcome to steal 'em.