Take me to the Steps

This is a project from my collaboration class at school, made to solve a problem that I have. I have a nephew, Bosung, who is 2 years old and lives in Korea. Bosung’s uncle is living with me in New York, and Bosung has only met him once. Bosung barely remembers his uncle. Actually I don’t think he remembers his uncle at all. This is a solution for Bosung. I made a hand puppet that can call my nephew’s name (“Bosung!”) when the puppet’s right arm is up.

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Project Steps

First, if you have a specific character that you want, you can use it. I drew a character, Bosung’s uncle, before starting.

I folded fabric and roughly drew the character on the fabric using a pencil.

Attach the sides using pins and cut the outline. Make sure to leave some fabric on the edge.

Then sew the outline, except along the bottom of the puppet because this is where you will put your hand.

Put the recorder gadget on the hand puppet.

Make sure to record your voice first to the card. Then, cut the gadget from it. Be careful not to cut the sensor that controls playback of the recorded voice, located in the middle of the card.

The folded side should be in the center between the right arm and body because the idea is to play the sound when the puppet’s right arm is up.

Attach the gadget to the fabric using fabric glue.

Turn the body right side out. I recommend using a sharp stick to do this.

Make sure that the gadget works, and be careful not to remove the gadget from the fabric in the process.

Cut black fabric to make a tie. Bosung’s uncle is a chef.

Tie the fabric on neck of the character.

Cut other parts, such as hair, eyes, and buttons, from the black fabric.

Put them in position on the hand puppet.

Attach the eyes and buttons using fabric glue.

Cut white fabric to make a chef’s hat to go on top of his hair.

Sew the hair first.

Then, sew the chef’s hat onto his head.