To make a marionette like Stuffy, you will need the following materials:
|
You will also need the following tools:
- Scissors
- A ruler
- Long nose or “needle nose” pliers
- A couple of cotton swabs (Q-tips)
- A large darning needle (found in a fabric or craft store)
- Drill with 1/8th bit (not shown in photograph)
A head start! The four inch Styrofoam ball will be the marionette’s head. Cut a piece of fabric about 14 x 14 inches to cover he syrofoam ball. I used a scrap of burlap, but you can also use an old T-shirt or sock. Be sure to ask Mom or Dad before you cut up any clothes! Lay aside a 2-foot piece of kite string. You will use this to tie the fabric together.
Drape your fabric over the ball and gather it together at one point as tightly as possible. Double your piece of kite string and tie it around the gathered fabric. Trim off the excess fabric. This will become the “neck.”
Don’t be discouraged if the ball has some “wrinkles.” Part of it will be covered with the hair or a hat.
Cut a piece of wire 7-inches long, and using the long-nose pliers, make a loop in one end.
Carefully push the wire all the way through the center of the head and make another loop on the other end of the wire. Your wire loops should be about where the “ears” of your marionette would be, on each side of the head.
Make your facial features by cutting your felt scraps, fun foam or construction paper. You can use buttons or “wiggle” eyes from the craft store for the eyes. Use some glue to attach the features and hold them in place with a couple of pins. Put the head aside to let the glue dry. We will now prepare the body.
An empty plastic detergent bottle has a nice shape and will serve as the body of your marionette.
First, cut 5 pieces of 18-gauge wire six inches long. With the needle nose pliers, again make a loop at one end of each wire, just as you did for the “head” wire” in Step #4.
Using your darning needle, carefully make 2 small holes through the plastic bottle where the “shoulders” would be on the bottle. Now insert the straight end of the looped wire all the way through the holes and out the other side.
Bend the wire over and tape the unlooped side of it to the back of the bottle with masking tape, as shown. This will hold the wire in place. Repeat the same procedure for the other “shoulder.”
On the same side of the bottle, put a wire through each side of the bottom where you will attach the legs. Bend and tape each wire to the back of the bottle, as before. (We’ll get to that taped wire in the middle in a moment).
Turn the bottle over. Using your darning needle, make 2 final holes on the bottom of the bottle, in the center. Run the straight edge of your final wire through them and tape as you did the other 4 wires. You will later attach the back string of your marionette to this wire. With all 5 wires attached and taped, put the body aside.
The arms and legs are made by tightly rolling pages of newspaper to make the “bones” of the marionette. You will need to roll 8 “bone” pieces. To begin first cut eight pieces of kite string 12 inches long and put them aside.
Use a full double sheet of newspaper (as shown) for each bone piece.
Using your full double sheet of newspaper, fold it over 4 times. You should end up with a strip about 4 inches wide and 11 to 12 inches long. It’s o.k. if it’s not exact. Use your ruler to firmly press down the folded edges of the newspaper.
Take a piece of cut string and place it across one end of the folded newspaper, about half an inch from the edge. There should be equal amounts of string sticking out from each side of the paper. Tape the string in this position firmly with a strip of masking tape.
Beginning with the string end, firmly roll the newspaper as tightly as you can until you get to the other end.
Tape each end firmly with masking tape.
Continue until you have made all 8 pieces. They should all be about 4 inches long and an inch thick when finished.
Now tie two of the rolled “bones” together to form the “joints” of each arm and leg.
Now tie the arms and legs onto the wire loops of the bottle body, and snip off any excess string where the hands and feet would be and tape those ends with masking tape. You have now completed the basic body of your marionette! (So far, so good).
Stuffy the Scarecrow does not need hands or feet, but to give him the “scarecrow” look, tie together some short pieces of raffia into tuffs. (Raffia is like a fake straw and can be found in a craft store). If you can’t find any raffia use yarn, string, or cut “fringed” paper instead.
Tape the raffia onto the ends of his arms and legs. Make enough tuffs to glue onto the head for hair, too.
To make a pair of pants, lay the body on a piece of newspaper and draw around the legs, as shown, to get the pattern.
Do the same thing to get a “T” pattern for the shirt.
After you’ve cut the newspaper patterns for the pants and shirt, pin the patterns to the fabric you are going to use and cut the fabric around the pattern. Make sure the fabric is doubled over. Remember - you are going to have to have two pieces of identical fabric of each pattern in order to stitch the pants and the shirt.
The dotted lines on the paper are there to show where to stitch the fabric (do NOT stitch the paper to the fabric).
Sew the fabrics together inside out, with the bright colors facing each other and the dull colors on the outside. After you have stitched the seams, reverse your finished garment, so that the bright side of the fabric is now on the outside.
After you have sewn the pants and shirt and have “dressed” Stuffy the Scarecrow, use a piece of yarn or rope to tie the pants at the waist. I used another scrap to make him a tie. I also cut a 6-inch circle of felt to make him a beat-up looking hat. You might also want to add a couple of “tuffs” of raffia sticking out here and there to add to the scarecrow look. The important thing is to use your imagination and to have fun with it.
To make a marionette control, cut 3 lenghts of wood lath: a 10-inch piece for the MAIN BAR, a 7-inch piece for the LEG BAR and a 6-inch piece for the HEAD BAR.
Sand the corners of each piece of wood to get rid of any sharp edges.
On the 6 inch piece of wood, drill 2 holes at each end as shown by the arrows, above. On the 7-inch piece, drill 1 hole at each end, as shown above. And on the 10-inch piece, drill just 1 hole at one end.
Glue the “clamp” type wooden clothespin to the end of the 10-inch MAIN BAR, as shown. Use a couple of pins to hold it in place until the glue dries. When dry, the glued clothespin will hold the LEG BAR on the MAIN CONTROL BAR (as shown in the next slide).
Glue the 6-inch HEAD BAR directly behind the clothespin as shown. When dry, run a string through the inside holes on this head bar so you can hang your marionette from a hook when not in use. Tie a small knot at each end of the string so it doesn’t pull out, and snip off any excess. The 2 outermost holes will be used to run strings through the marionette’s head.
When dry, turn the MAIN BAR over. Screw in the 3 SCREW EYES as shown. (Note that the LEG BAR is held by the clothespin and is not glued to anything)
2 on the front of the 10-inch MAIN CONTROL BAR, directly under the clothespin, and 1 further down the MAIN CONTROL BAR, directly under the 6-inch HEAD BAR, as shown.
..You are now ready to attach the strings!
Start by cutting 2 24-inch strings. Using your darning needle to get underneath the shirt, tie each string to each of the shoulder loops on the bottle.
Run each string up through the head loops (going through the hat with your darning needle) and all the way up to the outer holes of the HEAD BAR. Tie at the HEAD BAR.
Again using your darning needle, tie a single string, about 20-inches long, to the front center of the hat Run this string through the SCREWEYE under the MAIN CONTROL BAR. Tie it off. (Make sure the head rests on the neck of the bottle. You may need to adjust the string length a bit. And remember - the head is free-floating and intentionally detached from the body.)
Later, when you operate the marionette, you will surprise your friends when you pull this string and the scarecrow’s head rises in the air.
Cut a string 30-inches long for the back string. Attach this string to the wire loop on the backside of the marionette and tie the other end to the hole in the back end of the MAIN CONTROL BAR. This string will make your marionette bow.
Now cut a very long string, 70-inches long, and tie one end to a wrist. Run the string all the way up to the front of the MAIN CONTROL BAR, through the 2 SCREW EYES, and back down to the other wrist. Tie the string to the other wrist.
Finally, cut 2 strings, each 40-inches long. Attach a string to each knee. Do this by tying one end of the string between the double “bone” joints you made earlier. You will need to use your darning needle to puncture the string through the pants fabric, and then rolling up the pants in order to make the tie.
Run the other end of the string up to the 7-inch LEG BAR, through the hole, and tie it securely. Do the same for the other leg. Make sure that your LEG BAR is level.
To operate your marionette, hold the control as shown and remove the LEG BAR from the clothespin. Tip the LEG BAR from end to end, back and forth, to make the marionette walk and dance!
Practice dancing your marionette to some lively music. Tip the LEG BAR so that he hops from one leg to the other. Pull the back string and lower the control to make him bow. With a little practice you will be amazed how your marionette springs to life.
HAPPY PUPPETEERING!
http://www.puppets2000.com
19 June 19, 2008 at 1:26 am
Wow! That is intense. Great instructions and what a great looking puppet!
20 June 20, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing these clear and inspiring instructions. This is going on the list of things our family must do this Summer vacation. Thank you so much!