Author Archives: Collette Knowles

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About Collette Knowles

I am artistic director of Rough Magic Theatre, and I have been performing and making puppets since 1999. I have a Drama and Arts Education degree from the great Bretton Hall College, (Yay!). I started the great loves/obsessions of my life in about 1997, (Celebratory Arts, Street Theatre and last but definitely not least Puppetry). I am also an actor, artist, musician and all the other different roles necessary in the field of puppet theatre.

Mr. Punch gets a new body (upcycling a vintage vinyl Punch head).

Posted on by Collette Knowles
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I traced my hand template on some left over white material I had
Then I remembered this other thicker material I had in a nicer colour. I made the neck wider than my fingers so it would fit round the bottom of the head
I got my two pieces all nicely sewn up and then realised I couldn’t get my hand inside so made a new template with a wider “body” section.
The top picture is my first attempt and the bottom one is the wider version
The original puppet body did not have any legs, but I thought Mr. Punch would look better if I added legs.
1 leg complete and attached
Checking how it looks with the head
Both legs attached
The head is attached to the body.
“That’s the way to do it!”

I was doing some sorting out the other day and decided to investigate the box on top of my wardrobe in which I kept my treasured, old, childhood toys.

Amongst other things, I found this old vinyl toy puppet head of Mr. Punch. My mum got him for me from a charity shop a very long time ago and he originally had a very simple two coloured fabric body with some fabric “buttons” up the front. After a while the stitching failed and Mr. Punch’s body came off and then went missing altogether.

I gave it a clean and set the head aside with the thought that I could make him a new body and then give the puppet to my kids at some point. They already have one Punch puppet but his slapstick is a little felt one attached to his hand so this one would be able to pick up and put down objects (including a slapstick if I make one).

Then I decided to get the old sewing machine that has been taking up space and gathering dust fixed and I was requested to try it out for myself to make sure it was working properly. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to fix up Mr. Punch with a new body.

I decided to use my own hand for the template rather than using my son’s hand as his hand would be too small for the proportion of the head and by using mine they shouldn’t outgrow the size of the glove.

As you can see from the captions above I had a few false starts. I intended to make the neck of the body the width of the widest point of the cone shape at the bottom of the head and then to use a gathering stitch to pull in the fabric at the top to the width of the narrowest part of the cone to fix it in place.

This didn’t quite work out as I intended as the neck turned out to be narrower than I wanted it to be. I am not a very practiced sewer, so all these errors were to be expected. I have, however, been learning a great deal about making glove puppets.

I didn’t want to remake the body a third time and thought I would try and get away with it by squashing the neck through the opening, (this was possible because of the material it is made of and wouldn’t have worked with a rigid material like wood or papier mache). It was a great deal of faffing around to get it in and the stitching is straining somewhat but I am happy enough with it.

As you can probably tell, it isn’t finished yet. I shall be adding hands, clothes and trimmings to it. I may or may not add a longer sleeve to hide the arm, it depends what we decide to use it for. I have to admit, however, that I am seriously considering keeping it for me rather than letting the kids have it 😉.

Watch this space for further updates/developments on the build! If anyone knows of a good way to get rid of the marks on his face, let me know. I could try repainting it but I’m not sure which paint I would use and if it would be better to leave it alone. Please leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions!

P.S. Black Friday Sale in the merch shop 30% off everything, today only! CLICK HERE to browse and grab a bargain.

Shadow Suitcase Shows at Norton Priory

Posted on by Collette Knowles
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Had a lovely time at Norton Priory a few months back for their “Discover Sundays” event.

I had never been there before and discovered that it is an amazing place hidden away behind a housing estate. If you have never been I would definitely recommend it.

Wonderful interactive displays that are great for kids and adults, (including a gigantic St. Christopher statue that appears to be speaking with the familiar booming voice of Brian Blessed).

I took my kids along (figuring that they could busy themselves exploring the museum and gardens with their Dad) while I did my shows and workshops.

However, I found my kids were taking the business of supporting Mummy very seriously and they trotted over to watch every single one of my performances and took part in the shadow puppet making workshop as well!

I performed my “Edward Lear’s Nonsense” shows in the Undercroft area which had wonderful acoustics and was unlike anywhere else I’d performed before (I suppose the closest might be Lancaster Castle or maybe Hall ‘ith Wood in Bolton).

We performed the “Jabberwocky!” show in the Undercroft and the Tudor garden as well and spent a bit of time exploring the grounds before we left.

All in all it was a lovely afternoon and we definitely intend to return at some point to check out all the things we missed.

If you would like to book one of our suitcase shows, a workshop or a different show CLICK HERE to get in touch 🙂 We are available for Light Festivals, Halloween, Christmas events etc.

You can find designs featuring puppets from “Jabberwocky!” and “Edward Lear’s Nonsense” in our new Rough Magic Theatre merch. shop. You can find gift bags and sweatshirts for Halloween or Christmas, plus lots of other great gift ideas, including dog bandanas, baby and maternity wear, teddies, mugs, cushions, stickers, badges, umbrellas etc. Plus for that extra special gift, you can personalise the items too! CLICK HERE to browse 🙂