Researching the variety of Ewoks, I knew I wanted to make more than just one Ewok finger puppet... so how about five? I should be able to whip those off in no time at all, right? OK, so they took longer than I had figured, because of course they had to be individuals, with accessories and stuff. But let's face it: all of THAT is what makes MAKING fun.
I didn't want to name each puppet after a specific Star Wars Ewok, because these guys aren't meant to be EXACT REPLICAS, but rather: my take on Ewoks. Which meansssssss... I get to name them: yay! Since George Lucas had named Ewoks after the Miwok tribe of Native Americans, I decided to give these puppets Miwok names. Kosumi in Miwok = "Fishes for salmon with a spear".
The tiniest scraps of batik fabrics that someone had given to me were used for these Ewoks' head coverings and accessories. I am surprised they "stretched" so far, but like they say: Necessity is the Mother of Stretchiness. I liked that the "real" Ewoks' clothes were so roughly and crudely stitched -- it gave me "permission" to do the same. But I couldn't leave well enough alone, and kept on a'stitchin'... (Click on image to see it larger.)
Muata in Miwok = "Yellow jackets inside a nest". This guy's wearing a yellow jacket of sorts, so the name seemed a pretty good match. Plus he reminds me a bit of Pooh Bear... bees... yellow jackets... you get the drift. His arrows were made from toothpicks, polymer clay and embroidery floss. Quiver was made from a pen cap (cut to size using a hack saw blade), fabric, and embroidery floss.
One of the great things about Ewoks, I've learned, is that they have three fingers. I could've just about KISSED the Star Wars character designer for that, especially after having crafted the 6-fingered Admiral Ackbar puppet!
Tupi in Miwok = "To pull up", which sounds cute to me for some reason: perhaps because that's what's done with thread, when making a stitch? I dunno. This little guy is the horn-blower for the tribe -- he's really too little to be much of a warrior (YET), but he wants to be included and feel like he's being helpful. His horn was made from polymer clay. I like mixing materials -- it makes it feel like the character might exist in the real world. Horns aren't made from soft wool -- they're hard, and should be made of something hard. MY OPINION, and welcome to it!
I used a variegated embroidery floss to make these stitches -- I think they look good on the batik backdrop.
Molimo in Miwok = "Bear walking into shade", and Molimo definitely looks like a bear. He started off as all black, and since I knew he'd pick up fuzzies anyway, I needle felted dark browns, grays and tans into him. The closure on his bag is from a string of polished stone beads that someone gave me.
The strap on his bag is leather trim that I purchased at the craft store a bunch of years ago for some other project. Leather is tricky on this small of a scale -- unless it's calf skin, it's too thick to use, or to try to stitch through, for that matter. And forget about trying to double it!
Leyati in Miwok = "Shaped like an abalone shell", which struck me as funny. Leyati is his tribe's medicine man.
Skull and vertebrae were made using polymer clay. I didn't have any black feathers at home to emulate the REAL Star Wars Ewok medicine man's, and the thought of using a black Sharpie on a piece of down left me rather cold. So instead I used eyelash yarn? string? trim? to create a feather-y look. Not ONLY did I not spend $ buying feathers, but I think using yarn is more in keeping with the theme of "STITCH" Wars.
Ewok's badonkadonks have a certain shape (think "Teletubbie rear end"), and I wanted to make sure that these puppets took that into account. Leyati's body stripes were needle felted in, but sometimes lengthwise stripes don't minimize, AM I RIGHT, LADIES?
Here was Leyati in progress, when I was giving him a little more junk in his trunk through the time-honored method known as "needle felting". In the background is my sketchbook, which I keep close at hand for reference.
Other puppets in this series: Admiral Ackbar
The designs of these puppets and their images are © Megan E. Jeffery. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
