magpie puppet

I wanted a magpie puppet to use in some storytelling shows in 2011.  After lots of searching on the internet - there were NO magpie puppets available (well, for less than the $400 it takes to make a customised puppet.)  So, I asked my sister-in-law if she was up for making one for me.  Without a pattern.  Reverse engineered from a current puppet I have.

She said yep, let's give it a go.

So here is how we (I use that term loosely - I mostly watched, affirmed her choices and broke the bobbin on the sewing machine) made a magpie puppet on the three days after Christmas in 2010.  In between watching cricket, geo caching (future blog posts on this) and children wrangling.

Step one - take a close look at the puppet you want to copy from.  Poor Mr Orange got turned inside out so many times he probably felt very violated.

2. Make some wings from black fabric (we found a great shiny flat fur fabric at the local shop in Armidale.  It looks like flat feathers) and fill with flat foam.

3. Make the body out of the fabric and add a tail filled with flat foam.

4. Make a prototype of the head - try this three times until you get a beak kind of shaped head.

5. Then make the head in black fabric with a red felt mouth.

6.  Cut a ping pong ball in half and fill with silicon.  Just for fun.

Ok, these are the eyes.

7.  Attach the head to the body, with the wings joining in as well at the neckline.  It was a tense moment as my SIL sewed this inside out - had she pinned the wings on the right way...?

yes
She is a legend.

8.  Attach the eyes where I had added red and black felt to bring them to life.

9.  Add some white felt to make it look like a magpie - we had to consult the bird watching book, and while it is not totally accurate, it is fairly magpie-like.

10. Finally (drum roll please.....)

Meet MARGARET!

She was originally called Maggie during the construction period, but as she was completed, her personality started asserting herself.  She prefers Margaret, and she loves to feather her nest.  She has scatter twigs, and a subscription to "Nest in Style".

She defends her territory fiercely and she always has an opinion on most topics.  She will pick up tiny objects and scraps around her nest area and convert them to works of art in her craftastic space.

 Welcome Margaret.  Looking forward to getting to know you better.


Thank you to my excellent sister-in-law Katie, without whose skills this project would not be possible.  The total estimated cost of this puppet was about $20.  And three days work after Christmas.