Crafting With Coley: Captain Hook Puppet

Well, I've done it. I've survived half of the summer! Unfortunately, there have been moments that I have wanted to ship my kids off to Grandma and Grandpa, or Timbuktu... So, I came up with the bright idea to make them some puppets. Then I came up with an even brighter idea and asked the kids what they wanted. Tayce, my son, immedietly requested Captain Hook, which then led my daughter, Cosette, to request Izzy. (I should have just not asked and stuck with the monkey and elephant I was planning on.) Well, since I didn't have the heart to wipe the hopeful and excited looks off their faces, I committed to make it for them.

The kids did enjoy going to Hobby Lobby to pick out the colors for the puppets, and I will never complain about having to go to a craft store. It is my happy place. (It's a happier place if my children are not in tow, then I can wander the aisles for as long as I like, but beggars can't be choosers.) Here is a list of all the supplies needed for this project:

One sheet of white, gray, gold, black, purple, brown, red, dark red, peach and pink felt
Glue gun
Fabric pen
Scissors
Fabric scissors
Pins
Red, peach, black, dark purple, and brown floss (You will be using 3 ply throughout the project unless otherwise stated.)
Needle
Feathers
Pattern (available at the end of the blog)

Back at home was when the fun really began. I started off with a rough sketch.

Then I had to ponder how in the world a puppet is put together in the first place. This was a trial and error process, as I will explain along the way, but I hope that I have it smoothed out for you. I drew all the pieces out seperately, cut them, and then outlined them onto the felt using the fabric pen. I enlisted the help of my husband somewhere along the way in the cutting process. Thanks, honey!

I started by pinning Hook's coat together and using the red floss (3 ply) to whipstitch the sides together. Do not whipstitch the top and bottom, unless you enjoy pulling out stitches. Tie a knot at the end of your thread and start it on the inside of the shirt. Whipstitch the outside of the coat and fasten it off when you get to the end of each shoulder.

I didn't take a close up picture of the whipstitching of the coat, but this gives you an idea of how I work. I got so excited to put it together that I didn't bother cutting out everything else until later. (That's where my husband's help came in.)

Next, get white thread and the left and right ruffle cuff felt pieces.Tie a knot in the end of the thread. Start towards the end of the ruffle and use a basting stitch (see below) across to the other side. Pull the thread tight to bunch up the ruffle and adjust the felt to where you like how your ruffle looks. Fasten off with a knot. When both ruffles are completed, you can start attaching your cuff to your coat. It's easier if you start whipstitching the cuff together on the side of the cuff, moving down to the bottom where the ruffle is placed. When you get to the bottom, place the ruffle between the two cuff pieces and stitch the ruffle and the cuff together. Continue to work along the side. Once you get to the top, place the cuff where you like it on the coat (see picture below), and whipstitch the cuff onto the coat. (Side note - when I say right cuff, I mean your right, not Hook's right.)

Left cuff

Right cuff

The neck comes next. Match the two neck pieces together and whipstich the edges together. Slide it into the coat, about 1/4 inch down. Pin it in place and sew the neck to the coat, making sure that you don't sew the neck completely shut. I used the peach thread, but you can use the red one if you like that look instead.

This is where things don't start lining up quite like I have in the pictures, but believe me, this will be easier this way. Grab the pink mouth piece and fold it in half. Line it up with the back side and bottom of the face. Pin into place. Using peach thread, whipstitch from fold to fold.

Fold the top of the chin over and line it up with the bottom side of the mouth. (Wrong sides together.) Now pin it to the front side of the chin. I decided that I wanted the chin to move while Hook is "talking." Stitch through all three layers to the other side.

Back view. I didn't make hook's chin long enough to line up with the fold, so I just worked with what I had. I adjusted it in the pattern I made, so it should work out, giving you plenty of chin to see.

Front view

Intermission: I discovered this as I was going through my pictures and thought it was kind of funny how similar Hook's mouth was to Elayna's big smile. :)

Alright, moving right along now. It's time to finish the hair and face. Glue the front hair along the sides of the face. They should match up with the back hair when finished.

Pin the back hair to the front hair. Whipstitch the sides and top together. When completed, glue the neck inside the head, being careful not to glue it shut. (I thought about stitching it together, but it gets a little tight on the inside of the puppet, so why make things difficult?) Now you have the body of the puppet done. Time to decorate!

Baste stitch the neck ruffles, gather, and play with it until you like what you see. Knot off.

The hand requires a little bit embroidery. Wait! Don't panic if you have never embroidered before. I will walk you through it. This is called the backstitch.

Using the brown, tie a knot and starting a little below the dip, push your needle from the back to the front.

Put the needle in as close to the edge as you can, and push all the way through to make the stitch. For the next stitch, go below the stitch just made, the length of the stitch just made.

Put needle in the beginning of the first stich. Continue down the hand.

Using 1 ply, make fingernails by making little boxes. Admire your work. :)

Now it's time to put it all together. This is the way I suggest glueing the pieces on the coat: purple pants, gold strip, brown strap, hook, cuff ruffle, hand, cuff ruffle, bottom neck ruffle, top neck ruffle.

For the face, I placed everything where I wanted it and then glued into place. (Glue the mustache pieces on before the nose.)

Hat: Cut along the line as shown in the pattern. Using the same stitch (backstitch) you used for the hand, embroider around the hat as shown in the pattern. Glue the feathers into place. Place the hat on the top of his head through the slit and glue into place.