DIY Puppets

(photos by Sally Nelson/Collegian)

For last week's production of "King Stag," senior Kirsty Sadler constructed more than two dozen puppets. Some of these puppets were the size of a small car. Sadler said she studied the animals she was duplicating to understand how their joints affected their movement. Copy Editor Patrick Timmis found out what a step-by-step process of creation looked like for one of Sadler's bird puppets.

1. Sadler sewed a small cucumber-shaped pillow and painted it red.

2. She laid out the feathers — which had been individually trimmed for balance and symmetry — in the wing pattern.


3. She sewed the feathers into small white wings made from cloth and pillow stuffing.

She attached the wings to the cucumber body.

5. Sadler attached a feather tail and connected the finished bird to a fishing pole with fishing wire. The bird can be manipulated to flap its wings.


Sadler's birds soared from fishing lines above audience members as well as through the set and one heron even jaunted across the stage on its spindly legs. To read Timmis' article about the puppets go here. To read a review of the play itself, go here.