ecl's Kermit the Frog Puppet Replica (later builds, using my newest patterns)

[Cammioh]

Wow! I own a Master Replica but it doesn't really "feel" like the spirit of Kermit. Your kermit(s) nails it!
Very impressed. A student and I stumbled on this post while trying to find a good pattern for a Kermit plushie.
After reading over it and your older post, I decided to try this myself. I ordered the fabric and felt. Need to get some thread and begin practicing my "Henson stitch." It is similar to the one I hodge-podged myself trying to sew felt together in the artroom so I think I can do this.
I hope it is okay to ask questions if I get stuck.
Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[ecl]

Wow! I own a Master Replica but it doesn't really "feel" like the spirit of Kermit. Your kermit(s) nails it!
Very impressed. A student and I stumbled on this post while trying to find a good pattern for a Kermit plushie.
After reading over it and your older post, I decided to try this myself. I ordered the fabric and felt. Need to get some thread and begin practicing my "Henson stitch." It is similar to the one I hodge-podged myself trying to sew felt together in the artroom so I think I can do this.
I hope it is okay to ask questions if I get stuck.
Thanks for the inspiration!

Thanks! I used to have the MR Kermit as well. For a commercially available piece it’s actually quite well made, but as you said, it lacks the spirit of what we see in Henson’s Kermit. It’s really all in the subtleties, which you’ll discover as you build your own. My early patterns are a good start, but definitely experiment with tailoring them to your own preference! And don’t forget that the early patterns result in a larger Kermit; I’d say that my latest Kermits are just a little over 10% smaller to suit the 35mm eyes I now use, which is more accurate the original Kermit puppet I saw.

Certainly, feel free to ask questions as well. I’ve been working on a few more “tutorial” drawings that might help; a lot of the time builders have the same questions.

 

[chencc6]

Hi ecl,
This is my first kermit. I know it is not traditional kermit color, and also in process, some steps are not perfect. But I really like it and I believe my next kermit would be better.
Thank you for your help. Have a nice day.

 

[ecl]

Hi ecl,
This is my first kermit. I know it is not traditional kermit color, and also in process, some steps are not perfect. But I really like it and I believe my next kermit would be better.
Thank you for your help. Have a nice day.

Wow cool! Thanks for sharing those photos. I actually like that color...he somehow looks even more like a frog because of it You did a really good job for a first build! And fun photos—he has a lot of personality. Taking pictures of the puppets is surprisingly fun.

 

[DFW]

What type of stitch did you use to attach the head, arms, and legs to the body? Also, what type did you use to attach the feet to the legs? Any chance you'd be willing to share some pics of how the legs/arms are attached to the body?

 

[ecl]

What type of stitch did you use to attach the head, arms, and legs to the body? Also, what type did you use to attach the feet to the legs? Any chance you'd be willing to share some pics of how the legs/arms are attached to the body?

I use the same ‘Henson’ or also known as a ladder stitch for all the stitched parts. It’s hard to see after the fleece is fluffed up to hide the seams.

But here is a photo of a leg that i was stitching up. This stitch technique is highly versatile; you can very easily attached just about anything, like the limbs, easily onto the body. When stitching the arm or leg to the body, just use the same technique, going back and forth between the edge of the leg or arm to the body. The stitch will appear as a kind of zig zag pattern before you use a needle to pull out/fluff the fibers to hide the seam.

Here’s a pic showing the bottom of—Kermit build #5–where you can kind of see where the legs attaches to the body.

 

[FB Trooper]

These are brilliant, is there anywhere that sells them at all?

 

[ecl]

These are brilliant, is there anywhere that sells them at all?

One of the reasons I’d decided to make my own is that there really aren’t any officially released prop quality Kermit puppets. The Master replicas Kermit is the closest thing, but has a lot of big inaccuracies and is also not a puppet! But I think Kermit would be hard to nail down in a large production line fashion....a lot of what makes him unique is that he’s handmade—as the all the originals were; each one has slightly different characteristics.

 

[FB Trooper]

One of the reasons I’d decided to make my own is that there really aren’t any officially released prop quality Kermit puppets. The Master replicas Kermit is the closest thing, but has a lot of big inaccuracies and is also not a puppet! But I think Kermit would be hard to nail down in a large production line fashion....a lot of what makes him unique is that he’s handmade—as the all the originals were; each one has slightly different characteristics.

I was worried thats what you were gonna say. I had a grover puppet back in the 80's, which i sadly lost throught the years.
The muppets is one of my fondest memories, even my user name FB Trooper stands for FozzieBear Trooper, as he was my favourite. I just wish they made decent replica puppets of the muppets

 

[ecl]

I was worried thats what you were gonna say. I had a grover puppet back in the 80's, which i sadly lost throught the years.
The muppets is one of my fondest memories, even my user name FB Trooper stands for FozzieBear Trooper, as he was my favourite. I just wish they made decent replica puppets of the muppets

I think the vintage commercially available products—puppets, plushes, etc., are far better than the newer stuff. I just think that’s because the glory days of the Muppets is short of over; partly because I don’t think Disney is really all the serious about the franchise and/or doesn’t know what to do with it! Master Replicas, before they went out of business, had some really amazing products planned, which included a posable Fozzie replica and a reporter Kermit! I would have gotten the Fozzie for sure. They were the only company, to my knowledge, that was seriously producing good replicas of the Muppets. There are prototypes of Fozzie out there, and he looks amazing!

 

[russellsch]

Ecl, your Kermits are A-stounding!!!! I've loved reading this thread. Your work is mind blowing!
I have always loved the classic Muppets. They were in their prime when I was little, with Jim Henson being alive. The Muppet Show, The Dark Crystal, The Labyrinth, Fraggle Rock, & on & on.
I mainly collect Star Wars, but I do have the MR Kermit. He's just iconic. A few of my Star Wars pieces will bring a hush to adults (my age & older) when I let them hold them. Kermit, however, I've seen adults get "star struck" & tear up, when they hold him.
I was very sad when MR closed up shop before releasing Fozzy Bear, as he was my favorite. I'm happy to have Kermit... but he needs his friend Fozzy.
Anyway, I just wanted to say, I love your work

 

[ecl]

Ecl, your Kermits are A-stounding!!!! I've loved reading this thread. Your work is mind blowing!
I have always loved the classic Muppets. They were in their prime when I was little, with Jim Henson being alive. The Muppet Show, The Dark Crystal, The Labyrinth, Fraggle Rock, & on & on.
I mainly collect Star Wars, but I do have the MR Kermit. He's just iconic. A few of my Star Wars pieces will bring a hush to adults (my age & older) when I let them hold them. Kermit, however, I've seen adults get "star struck" & tear up, when they hold him.
I was very sad when MR closed up shop before releasing Fozzy Bear, as he was my favorite. I'm happy to have Kermit... but he needs his friend Fozzy.
Anyway, I just wanted to say, I love your work

Thanks very much! I appreciate the comment . I’m a huge original trilogy Star Wars fan. There’s definitely something about Kermit that people seem to connect with—he’s an icon! It was really Jim Henson’s rendition of Kermit that stuck with me through the years. It’s amazing just how influential his creations have been for several generations now! This project has made me appreciate the character more than ever; seeing him come to life has been something special.

I really do hope someone will take on the challenge of continuing what MR started; I believe efx ended up with the license, but they’re notorious for not actually delivering their products (their Star Wars line for example).

 

[russellsch]

..... I really do hope someone will take on the challenge of continuing what MR started; I believe efx ended up with the license, but they’re notorious for not actually delivering their products (their Star Wars line for example).

Yeah, back in the day when eFX originally got the license, I was excited. That was many years ago.... many years. Now, I don't think these will ever be made again.
A number of months ago the MR prototype of Fozzy Bear was for sale on eBay. It was way outta my price range, but it was beautiful.

 

[FB Trooper]

Thanks very much! I appreciate the comment . I’m a huge original trilogy Star Wars fan. There’s definitely something about Kermit that people seem to connect with—he’s an icon! It was really Jim Henson’s rendition of Kermit that stuck with me through the years. It’s amazing just how influential his creations have been for several generations now!

The one thing that always amazed me is that when the likes of Jim Henson (and the other muppet puppetiers) would sit with children and animate the puppets, despite the fact they never hid the fact it was them doing the voice, children (and even adults) would maintain eye contact and only interact with the puppet. There is just something so magical about that.
The other thing that always gets me is the video of the memorial service for Jim Henson, i have watched that countless times and it never fails to get me crying. He truly was not only a master of his craft, but so ahead of his time too. In many ways i still don't think he gets the credit he deserves.

Ecl could i ask, do you make these for your own pleasure or do you ever take orders? Its a long shot of a question i know but i gotta ask!

 

[ecl]

The one thing that always amazed me is that when the likes of Jim Henson (and the other muppet puppetiers) would sit with children and animate the puppets, despite the fact they never hid the fact it was them doing the voice, children (and even adults) would maintain eye contact and only interact with the puppet. There is just something so magical about that.
The other thing that always gets me is the video of the memorial service for Jim Henson, i have watched that countless times and it never fails to get me crying. He truly was not only a master of his craft, but so ahead of his time too. In many ways i still don't think he gets the credit he deserves.

Ecl could i ask, do you make these for your own pleasure or do you ever take orders? Its a long shot of a question i know but i gotta ask!

He was definitely an icon, that’s for sure! Having grown up during the late 80s and then the 90s, I think it was a great time to be a kid because of influences like Henson, Spielberg, Lucas....an explosion of pop culture. But I think Henson brought something even more valuable to the culture with his unique point of view.

As for whether or not I do commissions for my Kermit puppets, I don’t really do that. But seeing as I have made several of them already—i’m always trying to improve on the construction—I will occasionally make one available. I’m actually trying something new right now with another build. If I decide to let go of one of the builds, I’ll put it up here in the JY and can send you a pm


Here’s a quick holiday pic! Messing around with a retro filter app on my ipad.

 

[FB Trooper]

If I decide to let go of one of the builds, I’ll put it up here in the JY and can send you a pm

Please do

 

[ecl]

Here are a couple photos of the stitching process of attaching the bottom of the leg to the foot—a few threads above posed the question as to how that is done. Basically, the arms can be pinned, but the legs, given the odd angle, is not easy to pin. What I do is make sure the leg has the stuffing—or foam if you prefer—To give it a cylinder shape, and then just carefully sew it to the foot using the same stitch as everywhere else. Just keep in mind always that where the stitch goes, is where the fabric wants to go as well; there really isn’t a need to mark a circle on the foot as a guide, but you can do that with a sharpie if that helps, and use that as a guide for where to stitch. I just eyeball it now as I’ve done this so many times.

Notice the distinctive “zig-zag” pattern that the stitch creates, which can be mostly hidden by using a needle or pin to (carefully) pull the fleece fibers back out.

I build the complete foot before sewing it onto the leg.

 

[ecl]

I wonder if anyone here can make 35mm vacuform domes? I’ve been looking to get something like that done as they’d be a touch lighter than the plastic ones i’ve Been using!

 

[FB Trooper]

I wonder if anyone here can make 35mm vacuform domes? I’ve been looking to get something like that done as they’d be a touch lighter than the plastic ones i’ve Been using!

Are they for the eyes? Have you considered 3D printing?

 

[ecl]

Yes, for the eye domes. The ones I get now from the puppet pelts store works just fine, but the originals were vacuformed. I’m not as interested in 3D printed parts though, but that would be an option in the future. The nice thing about the vacuformed parts would be how thin and slightly lighter they’d be.