Matthew's Puppet

Matthew often comes to me with ideas for making himself new play things or interesting craft projects. He had been asking me for the past couple of weeks to teach him to sew but hadn't made up his mind what it was he wanted to sew yet!

Last weekend we stopped by a yard sale and we found a box of old doll clothes from some boy doll (as opposed to the dresses and little girl stuff that one usually finds for dolls). I gave the box a quick once over and decided that I was not interested in it. However Matthew found it a few minutes later and he decided that that box of old doll clothes was just the thing he needed! He came to me with the request that we get the clothes because he had an idea of a puppet he could make that would be "just the right size to fit into all of those cool clothes!" So we got the box of doll clothes, and home we went!

Early the next morning Matthew set to work looking through a some old toy making books until he found a pattern for a doll he thought would be just perfect to modify for use as a puppet. He studied the pattern then carefully drew a similar one onto a piece of paper. Then he cut out his puppet pattern and traced it onto two pieces of felt that he picked out for his puppet's body. I showed him how to sew the two halves of his puppet together, and then there was no stopping him! He worked on his puppet all morning long, tracing, cutting, sewing, and stuffing.

He chose buttons for the eyes, and carefully embroidered on a happy little mouth. Once he had finished his puppet he dressed him in a snappy looking tuxedo and played with him all the rest of the day! The puppet has gone with him to visit his Uncle and Aunt and play in their pool, it has gone to spend the day at Grandma's house with him... it has been his constant companion for the past few days. He is so proud of his creation and the fact that he designed it and made it all by himself!