One Way Street revised their puppet pattern

HandySam

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I talked with Keann Brown who is the director for the construction zone at OWS. She has rewritten the instructions for the people puppet pattern. I just received mine. I know most of the people here at MCF don't care for OWS but I've heard that alot of it has been because of the complication in the instructions, and the look is far from high end. Still if your looking to get started in making a puppet or two and can't afford the materials or videos yet to make the better stuff then OWS people puppet pattern is the way to go for now. The cost of the pattern is $10 and shipping for that pattern brings the total cost to $16. Shopping around between JoAnn Fabrics and Walmart you can get all the materials you need to make a complete puppet for less than $25. And thats if you use polar fleece. Grand total to start will be $41 to get started. Not bad I think.
I'm going to build a few just like the instructions say just so I completely understand them then start modifying from there. I want to learn "high end" just like the rest of you but this is a poor mans way to start and I'm just so happy that I'm finally gonna be able to start! :excited:I forgot to add that that revision to their pattern just came out this Monday. I havent completely read them yet.
 

Show and Tell

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Thats great! Get a puppet built and post a pick or two. seems even the critics here are mostly very constructive. Happy building! I might get that pattern myself just so I can say I have it. I wonder if OWS changed the look of their rod arm puppets any when they wrote these new instructions. I've read in a few threads how difficult they were to make.
 

HandySam

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Yeah there are a few things I MUST modify right away. I just don't care for the facial features like eyes, nose, ears, and hair. Later I'll have to give it more of a chin. It doesn't look to me like they changed the design really. From what Keann told me she just made the instructions a bit easier to understand. She said the instructions were hard because you had to have a level of sewing knowledge to understand what was being asked. She wrote em in laymans terms for those of us that have little to no sewing experience. I was told also that most peoples mistakes in building their people puppets were that they read over the instructions and miss key directions.
So I borrowed Bucks soap box for a bit. <sorry Buck. I'll clean it off before I return it> :stick_out_tongue:
 

Show and Tell

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Buck has a tutorial I'm looking for that has partial instructions on making a puppet. I can't remember where they are cause I like his design for making the hands much better than any I've seen. Buck If you read this could you post a link? I think it was his design anyway. It had wires in the fingers so you could pose them.
 

Buck-Beaver

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I think you're referring to part two of my article "The Tumbles P. Bear Project" which can be found online at http://www.bear-town.com/backstage_pages/tumbles_intro.htm

If you're looking to just get started, Puppets For Goodness Sake sells a much better (in my opinion anyway) and cheaper starter puppet pattern that is very easy to follow and the results tend to look a lot better than the OWS pattern. They also have a good puppet building kit available that uses the same pattern. The kit sells for about $25 US + shipping and includes all the materials you need to get started including the pattern, foam and fabric. The pattern by itself sold for about $5 US + shipping last time I checked.

Again, this is a "starter" pattern but it's very customizable as is and will teach you the basics of puppet building really well. To order either kit or the pattern you can contact Marlene Reimer of Puppets For Goodness Sake at puppetsfgs@aol.com or call her toll free at 1-888-300-1400. Tell her Andrew sent you!
 

Ryan

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Buck-Beaver said:
Again, this is a "starter" pattern but it's very customizable as is and will teach you the basics of puppet building really well. To order either kit or the pattern you can contact Marlene Reimer of Puppets For Goodness Sake at puppetsfgs@aol.com or call her toll free at 1-888-300-1400. Tell her Andrew sent you!
I can't wait to get that.. :wink:
 

Buck-Beaver

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Actually, that (finally) went out today. I'll email you privately with details. Thanks for your patience!! :smile:
 

Show and Tell

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well I got an answering machine when I called. Hopefully they will get back to me soon. I like collecting all these patterns then taking what I like from each one to build my own works.
 

Show and Tell

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Buck... one thing I couldn't figure out was after you glued the 2 halves of tumbles hands together how did you shape the fingers so they were smooth? did you sand them or something ? or did you put material over them like a glove or something? I couldnt see them up close enough to make out how they turned out so smooth and defined. I thought the dowel rod idea was a pretty cool idea too. I've never made a rod arm puppet with anything stiff in the arms before. I'd always heard it wasnt a good idea so I never tried it. How is tumbles working for you? I know hes not done but I'm sure you tried him out mechanically.
 

Show and Tell

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ehem.....Correction

Um.... Buck I just called Puppets for Goodness Sake and the pattern you refered to costs $15 + shipping and the email address is puppets4gs@aol.com Sounds like a very nice company.I gave em your name. I like the sound of their puppet pattern. It has a foam lower jaw unlike the OWS pattern. That was one feature (among many) that I didn't really care for about the OWS pattern. I will order one this coming week and get it probably around the end of the following week they said. Thanks for the tip!:smile: If you call them at 1-888-300-1400 and ask them they will e-mail you their catalog. Too bad they don't have one posted on the web.
 
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