You can also insert refrigerator tubing inside the top and bottom openings. If you cut a small slit in the foam and insert the tubing gluing and closing the foam over the tube. This will give you a body that will be sturdier. I like your method as well, you have a understanding for solving your own problems. thats a good thing.

Billy d.

By refrigerator tubing, do you mean the tubing you use to run water to refrigerators with ice and water dispensers?

Thats right Jon  I have found it to be a little more sturdy than the traditional aquarium tubing that some use.

Billy D.

Thanks for the tip about the refrigerator tubing.  I have a puppet in mind I think it might be useful in.

I've worked with refrigerator tubing, mostly using it for what its made for, and I'm not sure it would have worked for what I wanted to accomplish with Joshua.

With the ribs I was trying to accomplish two things.  1) make the foam shell more rigid.  2) I wanted to force the body into a more oval shape.  Foam, and I think refrigerator tubing also, has a tendency to want to be more round.  With the plastic, by using two pieces and kinking it in the right places, I could arrange the ribs in such a way as to get a more oval shape.

There might be other solutions but this one was cheep (free actually) and easy.

Your solution of ribs to give Joshua some structure is brilliant!  In a way you created "boning" from something you had available. Boning is used in the construction of costumes and garments.  It is most often seen in this day and age in women's corsets or body foundations.  It is either strips of metal or plastic that is covered in fabric that is then sewn into the garmet to give it structure. It is also used in a hoop skirt (think Scarlet from "Gone with the Wind") to make it stand out.  That is how you have used it here.

I often add structure to my puppets by cutting wedges or shapes out of foam that would be glued in like ribs to hold the outside foam in place. I use a heavier grade of foam then what you are using so that might not work for you on something as big as a body but might work in a smaller area you want to support.

In regards to keeping tucks in material to a minimum your best tool is patience.   If I really want a clean seam a smooth look I well sew the fabric in instead of gluing it. Yes even on mouths I prefer to sew instead of use the glue gun.  Hand sewing well often give you the control you need as opposed to machine sewing. If your fabric has curve cut into it then you can make small clips shaped like triangles along the edge of the curve to help.  This gets rid of some of the fabric that goes into the seam so you don't have as much bulk.

Uniformity can be important when you want to "ease" fabric into a seam.  Take two pieces of fabric, one that is 6" long and another that is 12" long.  If you first gather the 12" piece of fabric and make the gathers uniform then sew it to the 6" piece the "tucks" well be less noticeable then if you just started sewing it in and trying to gather it as you go. You can do what is called a running stitch on the larger piece of fabric to help you gather it.  On a machine this would be the longest stitch length you can do.  You can also do it by hand but you need to try and keep your stitch uniform.  You then secure one end of the thread and pull on the other end which gathers up the fabric.  You can work the fabric back and forth on the running stitch so it is uniform.

What I hear you saying is, don't rush, keep working at it until you happy with your results.
I guess I can live with that.

As much as possible I like to not have seams on the face.  Obviously there wil be seams at the mouth.  Many puppets I've seen have a seam in the center of the face.  In you're opinion is this a big deal?  Am I making the fabrication process more difficult than its really worth by trying to place the seams to the sides or back of the head?

I forgot to mention, that I tried retrofitting lining into the grips of the mouth and wasn't happy with the result.  So I've decided that I'm just going to go the route of having the puppeteer wear a glove.  I'll plan ahead better for the lining with my next puppet.

I did reinforce the finger tubes so I confident that the structure won't fail.

Hey,
Thanks Billy, I was wondering what I could use in the bottom of my puppets to make them more sturdy around the bottom. The Foam Book mentioned to use plastic but I didn't quite get it.  That's why I love this site, you're always learning things even when you don't ask.  This will go in my "Book of Tips" that I have created from this site.

Angel

It's time to look to fabricating this creature.  The first thing I need to do for this process is make some patterns for the head.  I've decided that I will cover the head in two pieces one on the right and one of the left.  With my past puppets I've tried to not have any seams in the front.  The reason I've chosen to allow seams in the front is because there will be no hair on Joshua's head which means there is nothing to cover the seams with.  I felt that in this situation the number and semitry of the seams was more important than the location of them.

To make the pattern I pinned some T-shirt material to the head pulling it tight and working any tucks to the back of the head (OK location is important - if you can keep the seams off the face its best).  I was able to limit the tucks to one.  I've found that long curved shaped tucks produce a smoother transition than a short one.  Actually its not so much the length as it is how gradual the taper is.  The more gradual the taper the better.  If you have to make a wide tuck make it long.  Once I'm happy with the tuck, I then simply cut the excess fabric away using the seams in the foam as a guide.  In this way one half of the head is completely covered by the pattern fabric.

After the pattern is done I removed it from the head and traced it out onto some paper (a paper bag in this case) leaving some along the edges extra to allow for seam allowance.

All that's left is the patterns for the inside of the lips and the mouth.

I also still have to buy the fabric.  I quite decide on the color combinations I'm going to go with.  Browns greens, golds.  I've been looking at picture and there's actually a lot more colors in nature than I thought at first.  If any one wants to offer a suggestion suggest away.

You did really good on the patterning process and want to think you for posting the images. What you did is called Draping in the costume/garment word and you are right on spot.

I think the location of the seam depends on a couple things.  If the puppet is going to be used on stage as opposed to film or video then I think you don't have to worry as much since you have distance on your side.   Also the fabric you use to skin the puppet with can make a big difference.  If you use a fabric that has no nap like cotton or lycra then the seam is going to show more then if you use something like fleece or fur.  With fur you can often hid all the seems completely no matter where they are.  Fleece can be a bit more of a challenge but with patience and clean stitching you can hide them.

I started fabricating today     I had to put off fabrication for a couple of days because some of my children have been getting sick.   Being a father trumps making puppets.

The main color for Joshua is going to be dark green alpine fleece.  His wings will be covered with a shimmery gold sheer that I hoping will make him look very june bug like.

I started with the head using the pattern I made earlier this week.  I doubled the fleece with the side I want on the outside on the inside, pined the pattern to it and cut out the  fabric for the head.  This gave me two mirror image pieces.  Next I pinned the tucks shut and sewed them closed.  Then I pinned the left and right sides of the head together and sewed them together.  And would you believe it the pattern was right and the fabric fit perfectly over the head.  I love it.

The next step for the head is lining the mouth.  When you use a foam palate, as I have, it is important to remember that the surface of the inside of the palate gets smaller as you close the mouth.  This means that the pattern you used for the foam is too big for the fabric that will cover it.  I made a second set of patterns for the mouth and trimmed off pieces of the new pattern until both the top and the bottom fit properly.  I then used these new patterns to cut the fabric palate leaving some extra fabric for a seam allowance.  Around the outside edge of this fabric palate I then sewed a strip of fabric roughly two inches wide that will be for the inside of the lips.  Once the fabric for the palate is assembled I glued it to the bottom and top of the mouth. I did not glue the fabric to the inside of the lips because I hand stitched the mouth fabric to the head.  Glue really gums up a needle and makes it hard to sew.  I had purposely made the fabric inside and outside of the mouth was too big so not I trimmed it to fit in preparation for hand sewing the lips together (Yes, I know insects don't have lips.)

The stitch I used for hand stitching is called the ladder stitch.  Right now you can find a good discription of this stitch on http://projectpuppet.com/blog/

I made sure when I was cutting the fabric for the head the it extend into the neck.  Its easier than adding fabric later and looks better.

Next I covered the body tube with fabric.  I used the drapping method (I'm learning Shawn)  I described in making the pattern for the head.  This time, however, I did not make a pattern.  I just fussed with the fabric until I was happy.

Lots left to do:  Install the lining, cover the wings and back, attach and paint the eyes, make and attach the antennas, cover and attach the arms and who knows what other odds and ends.

I dont know if this helps, because it looks like you have it all well under control and looking great but:
PLAstic plant hangers work really well for certain types of antanae.   If you were to buuy a hanging plant, it often comes in a plastic pot, with three long pieces with hooks at the end. THis is the piece oyu use, and just cut off the hook.

Hey thanks puck. 

I hadn't given the actual construction of the antennas much thought.  Have to take a look at the plant hangers.  June bugs have a multi-pronged antenna.  It's not a single protrusion so It will take some planning to make them look right.  Well its something I have to figure out.  Right now I'm working on the back of the insect.  Should be done soon and I post pictures.

I've used the plastic from weed wackers for antennae when I've made bugs. It comes in a variety of colors and sizes and some even glows under blacklight, which is a plus.

Today I covered the three back segments: two wings and the thorax.  To get the color and shine I was looking for I overlaid the dark green fleece with a metalic looking sheer.  I'm fairly happy with the over all affect.

When I covered the thorax I used the foam as a pattern for the fabric and cut out two  pieces of fleece: one with a seam allowance and one without.  I then took the piece with the seam allowance and pinned a piece of the metalic sheer to it and sewed around the outside edge of the fabric sewing both pieces together.  I then pinned the thorax fabric to the foam, the metalic&fleece fabric on the outside and the fleece only fabric on the inside.  These I then hand sewed together using a ladder stitch.

With the wings I realized that I could do the job much faster by folding the fleece and sandwiching a piece of the metalic fabric in between.  Then I traced the wing onto the fabric, pinned all three pieces together, took this to my sewing machine and sewed it all together, leaving the bottom of the wing open.  This I cut the wing out, turned it rightside out with the metalic fabric on top, inserted the foam and hand sewed the bottom shut.  This took a lot less time.

Next I plan to fabricate the arms.  It's so fun seeing him come together.