FUN WITH FABRIC MARIONETTES

This is a blog version of my original book with some updated posts in the front and the original book pages following. You can right click any page and select "Save As" to save to your desktop of a folder for later printing, especially for the full-size patterns.

I have never stopped experimenting with new and more effective patterns to create fully functional marionettes entirely from fabric. This has been a fun and educational project for me and I hope it will become one for you too! Enjoy!

 

UPDATE: ALADDIN'S GENIE

Here are patterns to create the GENIE for my ALADDIN marionettes.

Some basic instructions are included here. All other construction techniques can be found within the original book. 

 

UPDATE: NEW IMPROVED HEAD PATTERNS

I have never been happy with the heads on the ALADDIN marionettes. Recently I have been experimenting with patterns to produce more dimensional heads and at last I have come up with a set that I am very pleased with and want to share with you.

Here is the Aladdin marionette with his new and much improved head and face.

Here are the new head patterns. You can save this page by right clicking the image and selecting "Save As" to your desktop or to a folder.

Ordinary muslin fabric is used with the eye whites being Gessoed felt and the eyelids regular weight felt. The Irises are colored buttons ( I spray painted these to get the right blue shade). The pupil is a black round dot made with an ordinary paper hole punch. I added a small white paint dot for the highlight followed by a swirl of gloss coating. I ran strong thread through the buttons and the eye whites and pulled it through the back of the head to sink the eyes in slightly. The mouths are done the same way with the Princess's lips of felt set under the thread before it is pulled back. Small bits of black felt glued in place form the eyebrows. You can also add to the definition of the features with a fine tipped black marker. Some red watercolor pencil was used to rouge the cheeks.

Here is the Princess with her replacement head. The hair for these characters is fine black yarn stitched directly to the heads. 

You could make a variety of characters with these same patterns and even alter the shape of the nose or chin slightly if you like.