The puppet repair kit
(If you are looking for info on where to find puppet repairers in Australia, click here)
Whenever I make a puppet for a show, I ensure that I take a puppet repair kit with me to rehearsals, performances, or workshopping sessions. This allows you to make last-minute repairs, adjustments or changes to the puppets, using your little ‘mobile workshop’.
Does anyone actually sell puppet repair kits? No. Here’s why - there are just too many puppet types and products out there. A kit for a marionette would require different repair tools and materials than one for a muppet-type, not to mention it would have to suit the needs for your show. Last show I did, I brought with me spare cordial and gatorade for some puppet ‘veins’; hardly something that you would need in your show, and yet it was a requirement for mine. To that end, puppet sellers and makers offer repair services rather than repair kits. So here’s some tips on how to make your own repair kit.
I start my repair kit by using a storage bag from Spotlight - it’s really for sewing kits. While it was about $AU 30, the benefit is it’s a good, sturdy bag, with handle and strap; heaps of pockets, front, back and sides; zips along the front two (vertical) corners and along the top (meaning easy access and packing); and four or five different sized plastic storage boxes that fit in the bag. The storage boxes contain smaller items, like spare light globes for torches, etc. I tend to double the repair kit as a techie kit (ie. torches, spare light globes, paper, pens, contact numbers, Leatherman, gaffa tape, etc.), so all of that fits in as well.
First thing I do is get spare materials for EVERY part of the puppet - from the inner materials of foam and cardboards, to scraps for costume repairs, and so on. Whatever I have used to make the puppet, I include. This may seem like a lot, but since most of the materials are flat and flexible, they are actually very easy to store. It’s also a good idea to separate each material according to each puppet. For example, all the scrap materials for one puppet’s costume will go in a small, named plastic bag. Another bag will contain the next puppet’s materials… and so on. Making the kit as organised as possible will help you find and use things quickly - five minutes before going onstage, you don’t want to be rummaging for that all important needle and thread to do repairs!
But you don’t just need the materials, you also need the tools to do the repairs with. The following is a list of what I usually carry in my puppet repair kit. It may have forgotten some items - obvious ones I’m sure - so if I think of any more, I’ll update the list.
- Puppet materials for each puppet (usually foam, felt, cardboard, spare wire for rods, cloth, spare eyes, threads, elastic or ribbon, velcro, pillow stuffing, dowel, beads, etc.)
- Needles
- Pins
- Safety pins
- Measuring tape
- Hot glue gun
- Glue sticks
- PVA
- Wooden cutting board
- Scalpel and spare blades
- Pliers
- Needle-nose wire cutters
- Screwdrivers
- Scissors (ones for cutting paper, ones for cutting materials)
- Spare wire (jewellry wire and wire for rods)
- Pens
- Pencils
- Ruler
- Notepaper
- Leatherman (fancier version of Swiss Army knife; a Leatherman is actually the brand name)
- At least two or three torches (different qualities, different functions)
- Spare torch globes
- Spare batteries
- Extension cord or four-way power pack
- Gaffa tape
- Electrical tape
- Toolbelt
- First aid kit
- Watch (I buy special keychain watches, just for using during shows - they attach anywhere, and are cheap)
The kit is designed to make last minute touch ups, not major repairs, so if you do need to do major repairs, you should do it before the performances (during the day) or after the show at night.
Your repair kit should be, as the scouts say: "prepared"! If you have the tools that you use the most in puppet building, as well as some scrap materials saved from your builds, you should have a repair kit that can be used at any time, anywhere! I can’t begin to count the number of times my repair kit has allowed me to make adjustments in rehearsals when the puppeteer asked for them, or fixed a problem as it arose, instead of hoping that the puppet holds together until I can get it home. Best of all, there’s no need to worry when it comes to opening night - need to do a touch up? No worries, the repair kit is backstage, ready to be used!
Want more? Help build a puppet!