Make Your Own Doorway Puppet Theater

A couple years ago as my Christmas project and gift to my kids I made a doorway puppet theater.

Let me tell you, that thing was a labor of love.  Not necessarily because it is difficult sewing, can you sew a straight stitch in a relatively straight line -- you can do this. But because it was a multi-step project that I was keeping secret from the kids that meant my working hours were only after they went to bed, hidden away in my bedroom.  I imagine I could have completely the project more quickly had I been able to lay everything out on the living room floor, pin it all once and sew to town.  Such was not the case.  I digress...

I love toys and playthings that encourage imagination and creativity and whenever I see this doorway puppet theater up and in use it makes me smile.  When it is not in use, I simply roll it up and tie and extra length of ribbon around it to store. 

Save this post for next fall when you are considering Christmas gifts or think about maybe making one for Easter, a birthday, school's out or just because.

Below is my hand-drawn pattern for the finished product.

• the base is a heavier weight canvas fabric.  A standard doorway is about 30" wide so I bought a straight yard (36") of fabric and the inherent length was about 54".  I did a rolled hem on the bottom edge, hemmed the sides and then made a curtain rod pocket along the top.

• Start by figuring out where you want your window to be.  I was ok with the feet of my puppeteers showing underneath the theater so I based my window off of a kneeling position hanging height.  I eyeballed that to be 11" down from the top edge.  I cut a window opening of 21" (L) x 17" (H).  I then tucked the edges back and zig-zagged everything down and in place. A little fray check in the corners to keep everything glued down doesn't hurt either.

• I selected two "fun" fabrics for my curtains and the window borders.  Each of these items, sewn separately are essentially just rectangles with finished edges.  
• curtains x 2: finished 12" (L) x 19" (H); sewn to the base fabric just above the window opening, underneath the top window cover so that when hanging straight they are just hitting the bottom of the window
• top window cover: finished 31" (L) x 8" (H); sewn to the base fabric along the top and side edges only  
• bottom window cover: finished 31" (L) x 10" (H); sewn to the base fabric along the bottom and side edges, used with the ribbon to make a dowel rod pocket

• I used 1.5" neon green ribbon as my bottom window embellishment as well as the curtain tie backs
•  curtain tie backs are 7" long anchored about 10" up from the bottom of the window.  Each tie back has a  piece of velcro on one end, corresponding velcro sewn to the back of the theater at/near the anchor point
• a single length of ribbon must be sewn to the bottom window covering before placing it all on the base fabric, this larger piece (window cover and ribbon) needs to be sewn such that there is a rod pocket directly beneath the theater window.  Essentially, sew the ribbon edge flush with the window edge, leave a pocket space on each side and then stitch down the remaining sides, bottom and new "top" of the window covering.  Without this pocket and the final insertion of a 1/2" thick dowel rod (bought at the hardware store and cut to 36") the window of the theater will droop and gap open instead of staying straight.

• The pom pom rope is sold by the yard at most craft/fabric stores.  Completely optional bling.

As final thoughts, have fun with it and make it your own.  And, never shop the fabric store without a coupon or two.  It might take a couple trips to get all your supplies but your wallet will thank you in the long run for getting each fabric piece by piece so you can maximize savings.

Happy Sewing!

The puppets that we use were purchased off of Amazon.
People Puppets
Animal Hand Puppets