Thursday, 8 May 2014

How to Make a Puppet Stage Step by Step

What You'll Need:

*TOOLS:

Handsaw or jigsaw, Tubing cutter or hacksaw, Drill, 11/4 -inch

Forester bit, 5/16-inch drill bit, 1/8-inch drill bit, Screw

gun or Phillips-head, Framing square, Clamps, staple gun,

5/16- inch staples, Scissors, Pencil, Safety glasses, Clothes

iron.

*MATERIALS:

- Two 10-foot lengths of lx6

- Two 6·foot lengths of

- 1/4-inch copper refrigeration tubing

- 11 feet of colorful cloth (width no less than 42 inches) for

the curtains

- 11 feet of colorful cloth for the ruffle

- 15 feet of colorful ribbon for seaming the ruffle

- 24 curtain loops with clips Materials for building the

Lemonade Stand bottom.

*FASTENERS:

One pound 1 1/4 -inch drywall

screws

Four l-inch #12 sheet metal screws

Carpenters Wood glue Fabric glue

-Setting the Stage:

1. If you've built the Lemonade Stand, you already have most

of what you need for this project. If you haven't built the

Lemonade Stand, You'll need to build the three bottom panels

and cut the flagstaffs to size. Don't make the shelves, though

- they'll only get in the puppeteers' way!

-Constructing the Curtain-Top Frame:

2. Stack the two lx6 boards with their ends even. Cut two

pieces 59 inches long; these will Become the long sides of the

curtain-top frame. Cut another pair 34 inches long; these

pieces will become the short sides of the frame. Finally, cut

two 23-inch lengths; these will become the filler pieces.

3. Place the 34-inch side pieces to your left and right on

your work surface. Set the 59inch front and back pieces

perpendicular to the 34-inch side pieces, with their ends

resting on top of the ends of the 34-inch pieces, to form a

rectangle. Set the 23-inch filler pieces on top of the 34-inch

end pieces, between the ends of the 59-inch front and back

pieces. You should now have a rectangle in one plane on the

top. Square up the pieces using a framing square along the

outer edges.

4. Carefully lift up the filler pieces and put carpenter's

glue along their bottom surfaces.

Replace them and recheck the alignment with a framing square.

Drive four 114-inch screws through each filler piece into the

end piece below to fasten the two pieces together.

5. Lift up one of the long sides and put glue on the top

surfaces of the two ends beneath it.

Replace the piece. Holding the long side in place, drive three

1/4-inch screws through each end, into the side piece below

Avoid driving a screw in the extreme outside corner of each

corner; you'll be drilling holes for the curtain rods there

later.

6. Repeat step 5 with the other long side.

7. Check the alignment one last time and try to get the frame

as close to square as you can.

(Perfection is not required.)

Drilling

8. When the glue is dry, turn the frame over. At each corner,

square a line 3-% inches in from each outside edge, so that

you have two lines that intersect. Use an awl to punch each

intersection point.

9. Put the 1 1/4-inch Forester bit in the drill chuck set the

spur of the bit in one of the small holes you punched with the

awl.

Drill a hole all the way through the long side and the end

piece beneath it. Repeat at the other three corners.

10. Turn the curtain top frame upside down on your work

surfaces, with the filler pieces facing down and the short

sides to your left and right. Square lines across the nearer

long side 28 inches in (from either end. On one of these

lines, mark a point 1 inch in from the near edge of the frame.

On the other line, mark a point 2 inches in from the near edge

of the frame.

11. Reach across to the long side away from you and square a

line 1 inch in from each edge at one of the far comers. Mark

the point where the two lines intersect. Do the same on the

other far corner. If there is a screw in the way at these

cross-hairs, rake it out now.

12. Put the 51i6-inch bi t in the drill chuck. Drill a hole

all the way through the frame at each of the four points

you've marked.

These smaller holes are [or the curtain-rod ends. Making the

Awning Ruffle

13. Cut your ruffle cloth into three 12-inch-widc s tulips.

(Each one will measure 11 f 'ct by 12 inches.) Fold each piece

in half lengthwise and run a hot iron along the folds. You

should now have three 11-feet by 6-inch lengths of cloth.

14. Turn the curtain-top frame so that the filler pieces face

up and one of the long s ides hangs about 2 inches off the

front of your wad, surface. Clamp the frame in place. Then

find the center of the front edge of the frame and make a

small pencil mark there.

15. Find the midpoint of one of the pieces of ruffle cloth. At

the midpoint, staple the unfolded edge of the cloth to the

center of the front edge of the frame, keeping the edge of the

cloth flush with the top edge of the frame. Take a look: The

unfolded edge of cloth should be stapled to the wood and the

folded edge should hang down.

16. Grab hold of the top edge of the cloth a few inches to the

left of the midpoint. Bring that top edge back against the

midpoint staple, making a loop of cloth that points out toward

you.

Keeping the top edge in position, flatten the loop to the left

and staple its end to the edge of the frame. The new staple

should be Just about an inch away from the midpoint staple.

You've just made one pleat.

17. To make the next one, grab the cloth a few inches to the

left of the pleat, pull the top edge back to the staple you

just placed, fold the loop of cloth down to the left, and

staple it flush to the top edge of the frame working to the

left, create a series of flat, folded pleats across the top of

your theater, like those at the tops of old-fashioned

curtains.

Try to make your folds even, stapling every inch or so.

(Pleating may be easier task with two people working together,

one to fold and hold the cloth and the other to staple.)

18. When you reach the end of the cloth, staple the end to the

frame, get another length of fabric, and keep going. Overlap

the new fabric over the "ruffle" of the old fabric by an inch

or so.

When you get to the corner of your frame, turn and reclamp the

frame on the work surface and turn the corner with your

fabric.

19. Continue pleating until you reach the end of the shot

side. There, cut the fabric about 1/2 inch longer than you

need and fold this extra underneath before you put the last

staple in just before the corner.

20. Go back to the middle of the front and repeat the pleating

and stapling process, working to the right, until you have

completed the ruffle all the way across the front and the

other short side.

21. Glue a long piece of ribbon along the top of the ruffle to

hide the staples, starting at the end of one short side,

moving across the front, and finishing on the other short

side. Cut off the excess ribbon when you are finished.

Gluing, smoothing, and holding the ribbon in place may require

a few extra sets of hands. The result will be a beautiful

finished ruffle.

Crafting Curtains

22. Cut the curtain fabric in half. Each piece should be 5 1/2

feet long (but longer is okay).

23. Lay one of the pieces of fabric flat on your work surface.

On one of the long sides, fold over 1 inch of the edge, iron

it down, and staple it in place.

Repeat this process on both short sides. Then bring the other

piece of fabric to your work surface and iron and staple the

same three folds.

24. Now you're ready to fold, iron, and staple the remaining

long sides. Figure out how much you'll have to fold over to

make the final width of each cloth 36 inches. If your fold is

more than 2 inches, use two or even three rows of staples to

hold it down.

Or you can trim off some of the extra cloth to make your fold

less than 2 inches.

25. Clip the curtain loops to one of the long sides of each

piece, starting at a corner and

placing a clip every 6 inches or so.

Shaping the Curtain Rods

26. Uncoil the two lengths of copper tubing, bending them

until they are basically straight.

To bend (or straighten) the tubing, grasp it with both hands,

with your thumbs pointing toward each other and about an inch

apart. Gently push in with your thumbs until you feel the

tubing move. Shift your hands along the tubing and press down

again with your thumbs, bending the tubing just a little in

each place along its length to avoid creating kinks.

27. When the copper tubing is straightened, lay the two

lengths side by side and mark them together at 5:;4, 3n~,

361/2, 60 Y2, 65 1, 4, and 66:;4 inches from one end.

28. Grab a length of tubing in both hands, with the end you

measured from in your right hand. About 11/2 inches from the

end, begin bending the tubing Bend a little, move your hands

farther down, and bend a little more. When you reach the first

layout mark on the tubing, stop bending and check your

progress.

Your goal is to make the tubing turn 90 degrees evenly between

the end of the tube and the first layout mark. Adjust your

curve by bending more (or unbending if necessary), spreading

your efforts along the whole length of bent tubing.

(Perfection is not required, and you will be able to make

adjustments later.)

29. Grip the tube at the second mark (31 3/4 inches from the

end), with the bent end on your right and pointing up. Begin

making a second bend along a horizontal plane, trying to

complete a 90-degree turn by the time you reach the third

layout mark. You should end up with a left-hand bend.

30. ·Hold the tubing with the unworked end on your left, the

second bend pointing downward, and the first bend pointing

toward you. Position your thumbs at the fourth layout mark and

begin bending along a horizontal plane, trying to complete a

90-degree turn as you reach the fifth layout mark. Use a

tubing cutter or a hacksaw to cut the piece at the la t mark.

31. The second curtain rod will be a mirror image of the

first.

Repeat step 26 to make the first bend. To make the second

bend, hold the tubing with its curved end to the left of your

hands and pointing up, and move your hands to the right as you

bend.

For the final bend, hold the rod so that the second bend is to

the left of your hands and points downward, and move your

hands to the right as you bend.

Cut the piece at the final layout mark.

32. Place the curtain frame upside down with the 5/16 -inch

holes in the corners closest to you. Hold the completed

curtain rods up to the curtain frame to check their alignment,

remembering that they overlap at the center of the frame.

Insert the ends a short way into the 5/16, -inch h o le until

the rods support themselves. The rods should curve around the

outside of the larger holes (so that on opening night the

curtain can follow the same path around the pole that wilt run

through the holes) If your rods are out of alignment, bend

them into position now.

33. Remove the curtain rods one at a time and slip the

curtains onto them. Insert the ends of the rod back into the

3/16 -inch holes. Work the ends of the rods down into the

holes until they reach all the way through the frame to the

work surface.

34. Set the frame on edge with its top surface facing you.

Drive the: till sheet-metal screws into the tubing until the

screw head contacts the wood frame. This is an unorthodox use

of screws and copper tubing, but with some extra force, the

threads should bite into the copper and flare it night against

the sides of the drilled hole.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joe_Boujja

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8492478

No comments:

Post a Comment