OK so I've been working flat out on Lydia The Tattooed Lady's body.
What a marathon to make a full body (nudish) puppet for my first attempt!
Ended up making 4 breasts and 4 legs (as I wasn't happy with the seams on the first lot)The final breasts only have seams on the underside
Although it gave me plenty of opportunity to practice the Henson stitch. I can see why people rave about it.


I ended up putting as suggested a circle of plastic tubing just under the breast line and it gave her a good three dimensional shape.

Here she is with her tattoos. I went for tattoo sleeves on her limbs and cut out stick on velvet for the body tatts (which are references to the tatts in the song). I toyed with the idea of spraying painting using stencils on the fleece by it gave a washed out and fuzzy look to them.



I think she ended up looking like she belongs in the circus!

I even made her some fingernails using the scoop end of slushie straws. (One of the fun things about puppet making is the repurposing of items eh?)

That looks really good. I like the use of the sequin lace for the costume.

Two minor things:
It looks like you've overstuffed the arms. You should try to understuff them a little, as that makes bending the arm easier. If you understuff it, you can also do things like give it elbows - ie. sew a line into the arm where you want it to bend, or tie a thread around the area you want to bend.

The other thing is the neck. It looks like you've sewn it to the body, and while I've seen a few people do this I'm not sure how well it works in terms of performance. I would worry that the neck doesn't provide a lot of flexibility for turning the head and the natural wear-and-tear over time from use. (Oh wait... on second look, it's a neck *hole*...?)

Anyway, I really like the way you've done it, she is looking fab!

Fantastic job! I absolutely love the use of straw ends for the fingernails!  She really has a great shape to her.

Just to let you know that 'Lydia' has been a roaring success in the Cabaret. She even made it into the newspaper. Her next task is to see if she can do a routine based on Miley Cyrus's Wrecking Ball!

Congrats!

Thanks for keeping us updated! I like the image... it has me intrigued about the show as a whole.

Thanks Shawn and Na. Was great to get advice from this site on creating this puppet.I can't thank the guys who gave me advice enough! (needless to say I am addicted and am planning my next creation) She really has developed a life of her own. The show is a Cabaret. (le cirque du cabaret) The theme is about a young woman who stumbles across an abandoned circus...and it comes to life around her. Classic cabaret acts: singing,dancing, mind reading, burlesque. I play a snake oil salesman. I perform Groucho Marx's classic 'Lydia the tattooed lady' with the puppet and she does a burlesque striptease! needless to say it is an adult show. But it has proved that puppets will never go out of fashion and that adults love them as much as kids (if not more!)

You're welcome! It's great being able to pay it forward - this site and the members are pretty much the sole reason I know anything about puppetry. Everyone is always so willing to share their knowledge and experiences

Have you mentioned where you are? I am thinking that there are a couple of local places that do puppet-specific cabaret, and you may want to find out when the next one is on.

The brazilian puppet pattern has a stitch that forms the brow ridge.  I saw it on a video on YouTube, the puppeteer Taborda Eberson made a puppet head. He uploaded the video, it's called: AULA - COMO FAZER BONECOS - PARTE 1.  It's in five parts and it's in Portugese (I think).  It's a great video.

Hi everyone. Just found my way back to Puppets and Stuff and was surprised to find that I remembered my password. I like what you did with the puppet pattern Anton's Angel. Your character is delightful. I also found the YouTube tutorials so fun and very helpful and I hope to get a puppet made quickly for an upcoming Puppets-in-the-Park event happening in our community this month (August). I can see from your post dates that this is old stuff for all of you, but I was hoping someone might be able to help me find the hot wire foam cutter NiceBraga used in her tutorial videos for sale in the states. I have tried building one from YouTube videos, but it never got hot enough to cut the foam. Obviously, I did something wrong (go figure that). I figure by the time I try again, and again (who knows how many times it might take me) I will probably spend as much as if I just buy one--that is if I can find one. Any ideas?