Hey everyone,

 This is my first puppet and I just wanted to share the process with ya. Any advice or tips are appreciated, so feel free to comment!

I'm using the Pinhead pattern from Project Puppet and hand sewing. I built the foam skull the other night and trimmed up the body and head pieces last night and jumped in to sewing.

 Here's the work set up:
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 After I got the sewing done for the head, I took a minute to fit the foam skull in to see how it was shaping up. Some of my stitching is a little visible but I think I can mask that as I go along.

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That's where I'm at so far, I'm enjoying it and definitely learning a lot as I continue.  I'll share a little more when I get a bit further, Until then guys (waves)

Looking good for your first try.

As far as your stitches showing try this .  Make sure to pull them snug.

You also might want to try drawing the hands/arms onto the fabric with a disappearing ink pen then machine sewing before cutting out.


Looking forward to seeing more progress.

I agree it is looking good! Keep it up, you'll be a master in no time.

Thanks for the link Out of The Box, it looks like this guy has some great tutorials. Thanks Shawn!

I agree, it is better to cut a cirle around the fingers than to cut out each one before sewing, the top fabric and bottom seem to slide around a bit in the sewing machine.  When I don't have a fabric pen I use a pencil on the back side of fabric to mark the finger edges. It helps to slow down the sewing machine speed and make smaller stiches around those finger tips too. I take about 3 small stitches then stop and release the presser foot with needle still in fabric and pivot a tiny bit to make the tight curves better.  You can always go back and hand stitch any places with gaps later.

 Thanks for the tip Snail.

 I'm not doing the hands just yet. I'm possibly re-working the head using the Puppet/Ladder stitch and seeing how that comes out.

 I need to figure out how to fix the tension of my sewing machine because it's a bit off.  Good knowledge for when I do get to that point though.Haha

Sewing machine tension can be a bear to work out. Do always check that the bobbin is wrapped correctly and in threaded right. Make sure you are using either a universal needle or one that fits your specific fabric type. This is kind of a nice article on understanding thread tension. http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/4302/understanding-thread-tension/page/all  Don't fret though even with this knowledge and years of sewing I still have days when I just can't seem to get the tension right. Some times that means I really need to take the machine into to be serviced but then often it is just a bad day for sewing.

Thanks Shawn, I'll definitely give that a read and see if I can work anything out. Much appreciated!

Ok ten you can remove the thread and retreads the machine. If there is a bit of thread or lint in the tension area it messes up everything.   The book that came with your machine (or look online for a pdf if you don't have it), should have a troubleshooting page. It will tell you how to adjust tension.

I mark the hands/fingers and sew on the mark, never lifting my presser foot. Then trim fabric around the stitching.   

 I was able to get the machine problem figured out with a bit of help. I'm almost done with the sewing, I just have to attach the head and body.