Puppet Arm Assembly

 With the puppet's bodies completed the arms are the last element to be added before final costuming can begin.

Unlike conventional puppet or marionette arms which are flexibly jointed, these puppets will have bendable elbow joints. At the upper left above is the simple armature: 2 - 3" X 3/4" dowel pieces with a 7" loop of 16 gauge wire inserted into two holes drilled in the top of each dowel and epoxied in place.

I used the same heavy double knit material with which I covered the bodies to sew upper arm pieces. These are stretched over the wire, the cavities stuffed firmly with cotton batting, and the lower edges attached secuerly to the dowels with hot melt glue.

Finally the felt hands I made earlier are hot melt glued securely to the lower end of each dowel as shown. Here the finished arms are bent to the "20 minute" position, as on the face of a clock. After the costumes have been completed and the sleeves are in place the arms will be bent further into position and the control rods will be attached just below the wrists.

Each puppet character will have his or her arms sewn to the shoulders of the body with heavy carpet thread as shown above. I use a traditional overcoat button stitch in which the loops of thread are wound tightly around the center before finishing the stitching off with a drop of hot melt glue atop the center. This shoulder joint will last forever.

Puppet heads are completed. Bodies are completed. It Is   TIME TO COSTUME!!!!