Hi. I'm very new to the forums and probably even newer to puppet building. I am a huge fan of puppets though, and have just purchased a sewing machine and started making my first puppet, Boober from Fraggle Rock. Ultimately, my goal is to make a Wembley replica, but being a beginner, I have a few questions. I've read some stuff on these forums that has been quite helpful, but I still have a few things left unanswered.

Firstly, I am having a really hard time with dying the fabric. I have seen many people who are having similar situations, but I just can't seem to get it right. Does anyone have any tips for someone like me? I've been using RIT and dying the fur in my basement sink, and it's just been a fiasco and a half. My hands are green right now, because I don't have rubber gloves yet.   Is there a different sort of dye that I should be using? Something that is, perhaps, better?

Secondly, I am making a fraggle. I have no idea what sort of material to use for the furry portion of the body. Does anyone have any suggestions on something that is fairly easy to obtain and that dyes well? I have access to a joann fabrics, but I can also order something off of the internet.

Thirdly, Wembley Fraggle has a sort of greenish, yellowish mixed color to his fur. I was wondering how something like this could be achieved. I know how to dye stuff after a fashion (although I wouldn't say I'm good at it yet) but as for that sort of effect, well, I'm clueless.

Fourthly, I have purchased the glorified sock puppet pattern to start with, and this seems to be great for making fraggles like boober. Would a pattern like this be able to be modified to make a wembley puppet? If not, if someone can suggest what sort of pattern I should be using/purchasing, it would be much obliged. I'm scared I won't be able to get his nose right. I know that the wembley puppet has a ball at the end of his nose to make it be the rounded shape that it is, but ... like I said, I'm clueless.

I think that's all of the questions I have for now. I'm sorry to post so many questions. I want to stress that if I'm making these puppets, I will not be selling these and they will be for my own personal collection. I know that sort of thing is frowned upon, and i understand why.

Thank you for your time. ^_^

Firstly, I am having a really hard time with dying the fabric

Could you be more specific as to what problems you are having is the fur or fabric not taking the dye, spotting, etc.
Not being a fraggle rock fan......... I say we look at the pictures and figure this out !


Good choice on buying the Project Puppet simple series glorified sock puppet........... and yes any pattern can be modified to different looks. Welcome to Puppets and Stuff and I admire one that just gets right to the point with questions. Lets take one thing at a time and I'm sure we can figure things out.
I am glad that you cleared up the fact that these will be for your own use....but our goal here is to help teach you how to build puppets.

Billy D.

I'll post more about this when I get back from work (i'm currently very late for work) but here are some pictures that I've taken... maybe this will illustrate my problem a little bit better. Also, I have included a picture of the ACTUAL Boober from the show.

http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/haleybrooks/Fraggle/

If you click on the images, I've included a description for what's happening with the fabric. Pretty much, I'll leave the fur fabric in the dye for two hours and then as soon as I wash it, like it says on the bottle, the dye washes right away. I included a picture that is the fur where it appears to have taken the dye, but if I wash that fur in the sink, the dye will just wash right out. Using Vinegar with the RIT dye seems to have made it get a little darker, but I am still having some problems. The photo I included of the piece that is hanging on the hanger still needs to dry, so I won't know the absolute results until then.

For the Wembley puppet, there's a very specific look I'd like to achieve with him. I'll post a little more about that later as soon as I have a little more time. I basically want him to look exactly as he did in season 1 of the show. He seems to look different in a lot of the photos I see of him on the internet.

Edit: This is a wembley that someone has made that I think is just perfect:
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj14/redfreggel/fraggles/fraggleb.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj14/redfreggel/fraggles/fragglea.jpg

And as far as the problem I'm having, I'm not dying the fleece for the skin, I've chosen to just use fleece from a fabric store. I'm only having trouble dying the fabric for the body, which is the shaggy fur area.

Thanks for the warm welcome, by the way, and I will post more information about this as soon as I'm able to!

ps - am I allowed to double post in this forum? I have been on some forums where they yell at you for that. just in case I have to update this thread with more information or something.

Thanks again!! ^_^

I have to say everything looks pretty good to me................. but I understand how it is when you are wanting a particular look and things don't go the way you would like. I would first like to address your dye issues. Rit dye is not the best for dyeing furs because of the synthetic fibers that they are made from. the colors usually come out pale and lifeless.
 May I suggest using  dyes from Dylon. This can be purchased at most craft stores
https://dylon.dyeproservices.com/index.php?cat=2
You may ask questions about dyeing from Paula Burch dye forum
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing.shtml

I really think you are doing a great job.... When starting a project it is a good to keep notes on everything. Puppet Lady has a work sheet for the simple series located in her gallery for download. You may find them helpful.................... I will ad them later.

Yes you can double post .................. post as much as you want. You may want to start a gallery as well. Thank you so much for posting your project............. This will allow others to learn with you.

So your most pressing issue at the moment is getting the fabric the right color ? We will have to explore other dye products that may work for you such as procion dyes.
http://www.jacquardproducts.com/products/dyes/procionmx/

Lets see if others have had similar issues with dyeing.

Below is Puppet Ladies Gallery. There are several forms you can download of the Project Puppet pattern work sheets.

Billy D.

http://puppetsandstuff.com/community/index.php?action=gallery&g2_itemId=2478&g2_page=4

You can see I'm posting again................. Here are some topics on dyeing fur on Paula's site

http://www.google.com/custom?domains=www.pburch.net&q=dyeing+fur&sitesearch=www.pburch.net&sa=Google+Search&client=pub-3148830666571354&forid=1&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&safe=active&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23003333%3BVLC%3A006666%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3ACCFFFF%3BLBGC%3A009999%3BALC%3A003333%3BLC%3A003333%3BT%3A003333%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BFORID%3A1&hl=en

Billy D.

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https://youtu.be/LvlbCHqEOcg


Billy D.

I just wanted to say Welcome to Puppets and Stuff, and the world of puppets. I hope you have fun! I'm also a Fraggle Rock fan, so I hope you will share with us as you work on your project.

I don't know anything about dying anything, but Billy is the man in that department.

Thank you for the warm welcome and for all the wonderful advice/help! Now I know that I've come to the right place! ^_^

I'll post a few more things later, but this is some really helpful information that I'll check out tonight for sure! I also just found out we have another craft store in our area that I was not aware of, so I may check there for the dyes (our joann fabrics only has RIT dyes)

I had another question while I am at it that I had forgotten about. Would I be able to achieve something like the wembley pictured below if I just modified the glorified sock puppet pattern, or would it need a completely foam based skull. i have very little experience with foam at the moment, and the glorified sock puppet only uses foam for the mouth plate.  I know they use a round ball or object to get the shape of his nose. I really like the movement that happens with the face of the glorified sock puppet, so I'm hoping that the answer is "yes" to the question. If there is another pattern I should look into, though, please let me know. I am very new to all of this.

Anyway, here are the pics of pretty much EXACTLY what I'd like to achieve.

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj14/redfreggel/fraggles/fraggleb.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj14/redfreggel/fraggles/fragglea.jpg

oh and @chris: I will gladly keep all of you updated on the progress of these projects if you would like. If it can help people learn something, I'm all for that! I've been scouring the forums for anything that could help me make this, and much of it has been people unwilling to help other people out. Until I found these forums, at least! ^_^

thanks again to everyone, this is a huge step forward from the information I had been collecting on my own.

I'll post more later!

Yes, we can modify the sock puppet pattern to get the results you want. I have the pattern and will take a look at it this week end.
We can help each other.

Billy D.

Fabulous! Thank you so much! I can help with whatever I'm able to! I've got a few screenshots that I uploaded of front and side views, I'll upload more tonight. I thought that the side views in particular could help. I photoshopped one so it's more open, but I'll try to get a proper screen shot of it tonight:

http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/haleybrooks/Fraggle/

and these, as I've said a million times before, are the ultimate final resulte I'd like to have, cause this is the best wembley I've seen:
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj14/redfreggel/fraggles/fraggleb.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj14/redfreggel/fraggles/fragglea.jpg

If you need any more information, please let me know, and I can get you whatever you need. You have no idea how much I appreciate this help. I am infinitely grateful!