Hi,

I'm new to full body puppet building.  I'm learning a great deal and having a blast.  I'm trying to figure out if anyone has attempted to make their version of a spring-a-belly puppet.  I'm trying to figure out how to attach the spring to the spandex sleeve.  Has anyone attempted one of these before?  I'm a pastor trying to help our very limited children's ministry out with some cool puppets.  Our budget is exhausted but I have everything I need to make these so they would be free.  I love one way street and we just purchased several items from them.  These were an after thought.  Any help or input would be appreciated.  This is a wonderful place I'm so glad I found it. 

Hi there! I can welcome you, but I am sorry, I can't help you- different kind of puppets...

Attaching a slinky or spring is really pretty easy.  Had to look up what you meant for sure by "spring-a-belly puppet" and was a bit surprised when I found it was something one of our members did. She turned the rights over to OneWay Street so I don't think she ever gave in real intell on how she made them but should be pretty easy to do. Here is a related thread on the topic. http://puppetsandstuff.com/community/index.php/topic,970.0.html

You fabric is a tube that you then simply attach to the top and bottom of the slinky. I've not made one of these before but used slinkys in puppets and I just do a whip stitch through the fabric and around the top two or three spirals of the slinky all the way around.

BTW: The official name of these puppets are Stretch-A-Belly and they can be purchased through OneWay Street. http://www.creativemin.com/product/975/october_2006

I've made some like these.  Use a doll joint. A doll joint has 3 pcs.  You don't need the washer but the "button" part and the post part. Hot glue the slinky to button side and insert the post into the bungee cord, sew the fabric around them and attach them.
MY challenge is the handle for the legs!  I have a hard time with that.  I am in the middle of making one now and it is frustrating me to no end! I just don't seem to have the proper supplies for it.

You totally lost me on that Angel.   Any way you could supply a picture?

Okay.  I went and took some pictures. I just have a phone camera.
I'll use my last post to explain the pics as best I can.

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I've made some like these.  Use a doll joint. A doll joint has 3 pcs.  

You don't need the washer but the "button" part and the post part.


Hot glue the slinky to button side and


insert the post into the bungee cord,

sew the fabric around them and attach them.


I almost forgot the end result!





I hope the pics help make sense.  I didn't actually have anything in progress to take step by step pictures.

Doll joints are great for so many things! I use them all the time. And don't throw away those washers! I use them all the time too for so many things!

Ahhh.... ok now I get it! When you said bungee cord I kept envisioning the round cord ones but you are using the flat black rubber ones. They make the arms and legs and because they have body to them give some bounce and movement.

Yes, I should have specified! But I"m always in a hurry when I'm posting it seems.

Thanks for the advice.  Its amazing to me how the Lord works.  I had already bought doll joints for this.  We are making the other spring a bellies with the slinky.  But we have sewn the tube, around the slinky and then sewed the ends shut with the doll joint going through the glove and into the top and bottom of the tube.  I'll post pics when they are completed.  This is our first adventure in this.  Anyone have a foam pattern for giant lips.  We need a lips choir for our VBS and my lips are a little flat and just don't really pop in the blacklight.  They need to be fuller.  Any patterns?

Are you maybe talking about the Springy puppets from OWS?  They have a slinky in them.  Like Shawn said, you have to either sew or glue the sleeve over the first several twists of the slinky.  The original ones were sewn, now they glue them.  I think they probably glue the slinky to the sleeve, then turn the sleeve up inside the slinky and glue again.  The sewn ones tended to slip out of the sewn sleeve.