Making the seams disappear on polar/blizzard fleece?

Hi everyone!

I'm new to this forum and fairly new to puppet making and I was wondering if I could get some tips on making polar/blizzard fleece seams invisible? I have been looking around and haven't found much. Also I know most people use antron fleece, but that is expensive and I want to get the sewing right before I even attempt.

Any help would be great! Thanks a lot guys!
~Josh

Hi Josh,

You can try picking them with the needle, but I found going over it with the ladder stitch to be more effective....

Either that, or apply the Henson Stitch method of sewing, it works just fine.

Isn't the Henson Stitch and Ladder Stitch the same stitch? That's what I've been told anyways.

Also, Thanks Animal31 for your needle picking suggestion! I have been using the Whip Stitch and it still doesn't remove the seam. Does the ladder stitch make that much of a difference?

II've known them to be the same as well, and yes, I think you'll see a big difference over the whipstitch...

You can also get a good results when you use a brush on the seams after it's been sewn. I've heard of people using dog brushes for this, but I got pretty good results from using a hair brush that had a fairly stiff bristle to it.

Thanks Melonpool, but what about a firm toothbrush?

There are key components to a good hidden seam...
-Practice, practice, practice stitching
-When you do the Ladder Stitch don't "Over Pull" the fabric. Many people will pull too much causing the fabric to bunch up a bit. Thus causing the stitch to be seen.
-Work and Pull- when you do the ladder stitch you'll want to do about 10 stitches, pull together, then continue. I use to do a huge line of stitches and then pull- which can cause a tangle and then the stitch won't gather.
-Use strong thread- sounds stupid but if you purchase cheap thread you'll regret it. Sometimes you'll have to put some force when gathering your stitch. Early on when I started building I found the thread breaking...causing all my work ruined. Use strong thread and the chances of this happening are next to nil.
-I recommend using a needle to pick the seam first, then move to the dog brush. A warning with the dog brush: If you are brushing out a seam try to brush the entire puppet face (with the seam) because the area you brush (the seam) will begin to look more worn or the pil will be greater. This might bring more attention to the seam. By combing the entire puppet face sometimes you can stop this from happening.
-I don't recommend toothbrushes- use your sewing needle instead.
-Sometimes you have to realize that the seam (no matter how hard you try) will show. The pil on fabric has to be a bit high to do a somewhat normal hide of a seam. Many fabric stores are selling Anti-Pil fleece so make certain the material you are purchasing isn't going to fight against you.
-Your eye will be able to see the seam but camera's won't- I recommend taking pictures as you build. Some seams I've done I can see until I video taped them and the seam magically disappears! Now with High Definition camera's you'll have to worry, but usually for Youtube videos you'll be fine.
-My last point is ...who cares...ya, I said it...LOL who cares that you can see the seam. Remember that the character is what is important! If the character is good- people will not notice the seam. The puppet building community might care about them but the percentage of us is very small compared to the rest of the world who won't know what to look for. Seams are nice to have hidden, but sometimes not necessary.

Yeah, Walter's seam in The Muppets was pretty obvious but you stop noticing.

I know I've said this before, but personally, I like seeing seams, rods, glove-hand sleeves and all that jazz, and apparently a lot of people do too; I remember Sid & Marty Krofft trying to capitalize on the popularity of Topo Gigio way back when with mediocre results, because apparently the audience kept wanting to see the strings.

I never even noticed any of his seams in the first place... one thing I DID notice was the overkill use of chromakey... I know it's cheap and economical in movies and such, but I miss the days of yore when Jim and his crew didn't always rely on the use of bluescreen or green screen for full-bodied shots and such.

Thanks guys for all your information!

So whats the difference between antron fleece and the fleece you can buy at a normal fabric store? Is it cause antron fleece can pil?

I take back my last comment. My antron fleece arrived today and after just playing around with a small patch, I now see how amazing this stuff is at hiding seams. This stuff is Awesome!!!!