How to Sew a Doorway Puppet Theater

A puppet theater makes a great gift for special children in your life, especially if accompanied by a few puppets.The very best part is that it's powered by imagination, not batteries.

This puppet theater is basically a theater-shaped curtainthat hangs in any doorway. Making this puppet theater requires a few hours, basic sewing skills, and some inexpensive supplies. Once done, it should provide hours of creative entertainment.

If you can't sew or don't have the time, see the tips for a no-sew version that you can improvise from household objects you already have.

1. Measure the width of a doorway, preferably the door where the theater will go. These curtains, and most tension curtain rods, are adjustable, but it will help to have an approximate finished size in mind as you sew. This doorway is about 28 inches wide.
2. 

    A red tablecloth.
   Choose a suitable piece of fabric. This is a redtablecloth, found at a local thrift store. It was chosen because it was large, inexpensive, lightweight, and fairly opaque. It also happens to be red (as many real theater curtains are) and it has an interesting but not overpowering pattern. This entire project used a piece of the tablecloth that was 5 feet x 6 feet. A dark colored or satin bed sheet or a lightweight blanket might also work.
3. Wash and iron the fabric. This is a particularly good idea if the fabric was previously used for some other purpose or if it came from a garage sale or thrift store. It will help the finished project to have a smooth, finished appearance and to hang straight.
4. 

    Cut pieces
   Measure and cut the fabric. You will need a total of four rectangles: a valance, two matching side panels, and a lower curtain. The sizes are easy to adjust, according to the doorway and your preferences. Here are the measurements and the reasoning behind them.
   
   • 

      These rectangles will form the valance and two side panels.
     Valance: 12 inches (30cm) tall x 60 inches (150cm) wide. The valance forms the top of the theater frame. It will hang down about six inches from the tension rod at the top. It also needs a casing large enough to fit over the tension rod. The width, 60 inches, was the width of the original tablecloth, but it makes the curtain about twice as wide as the door where it will hang. Aim for at least one and a half times as wide as the door.
   • Side panels: 30 inches (75cm) tall x 15 inches (40cm) wide. These are the sides of the frame. The thirty inches will be the height, and it takes into account both the desired finished height of the theater and the original width of the tablecloth. The width includes a bit of extra for hems on both sides. It will bunch to about half that dimension when hung up.
   • Lower curtain: 36 inches (90cm) tall x 60 inches (150cm) wide. Again, the 60 inches was the original tablecloth width and includes excess for bunching. The 36 inches, minus a hem and a casing, will be the height of the lower curtain. It was chosen to be tall enough to hide young puppeteers if they choose not to be part of the scene but short enough to allow them to stand or kneel and join in the action.
   • The heights will be somewhat adjustable once the curtains are hanging.
   • A yardstick or tape measure will help to keep things fairly straight.
5. 

    Hem the free edges.
   Hem the lower curtain on three sides. In this case, all three of these hems came with the tablecloth, so there was no need to sew them. Run a zigzag stitcharound if necessary, to keep the edges from fraying.
6. 

    Sew a wide casing.
   Turn the edge under and sew a wide casing on the fourth side of the lower curtain. The casing should be large enough to fit easily over the dowel, at least 1.5 inches (4cm) wide.
   
   • Sew a zigzag stitch along the edge of this side before sewing the casing, if the fabric seems inclined to unravel.
7. 

    Hem three edges.
   Hem the three "free" edges of both side panels. That is, hem both long edges and one short edge. Leave one side raw or with a zigzag stitch. Take advantage of any existing hems.
8. Hem the three "free" sides of the valance. That is, hem one long edge and both short edges. Take advantage of any existing hems.
9. 

    Pin the casing.
   

    The same thing in a diagram. The black is the side panel, the green is the valance, and the red dashed line is where the stitches will go.
   Pin the casing on the fourth side of the valance, and pin the raw edges of the side panels into the casing as shown, on either end. Use a ruler or tape measure to keep the valance length and casing height consistent across the width of the valance. Make it a generous width, at least 2 inches (5cm) when flat.
10. 

     Sew the casing.
    Sew the valance casing so that the side panels are sewn into either end. This casing will run all the way across the valance, and it will catch the side panels at either end.
11. Adjust the length of the tension rod to fit the doorway where the puppet theater will hang. This is likely to be easier to do without the curtain on it.
12. 

     The end of the tension rod in the valance casing. The red ribbon suspends the dowel from the top rod.
    Insert the tension rod into the valance casing. Arrange the upper curtain on the rod so that the bunching is fairly even.
13. 

     The end of the dowel in the lower curtain casing. The red ribbon suspends the dowel from the top rod.
    Insert the dowel into the lower curtain. Arrange the curtain on the rod so that the bunching is fairly even.
14. 

     The assembled theater, showing the red ribbon that holds the top and bottom together. In the finished theater, the dowel will be trimmed to the width of the doorway and the ribbon will be hidden behind the side panels.
    Suspend the dowel from the tension rod using a strip of leftover fabric, heavy cord, or ribbon. Adjust the heights as desired.
15. 

     Provide some puppets!
    Hang the finished product in a doorway, provide some puppets, and challenge some young puppeteers to present a puppet show!

• Not including gathering the materials, the construction of the puppet theater shown here took about three hours. Using a curtain rod and tablecloth from a local thrift store, the cost was under US$20, with plenty of fabric left over for other projects.
• To save sewing time, use existing hems, selvage edges, and the like rather than hemming each edge, especially if you will start from an existing item, such as a tablecloth.
• 

   Do measure; don't obsess.
  While this project will need a bit of attention to get everything fairly straight and square, in the end it's for a children's toy. Therefore, don't panic if your sewing isn't perfect. The kids probably won't even notice.
• You can easily sew two smaller pieces of fabric together to result in one larger piece, if your original fabric is not large enough. If you can arrange such seams so they hang vertically, they will be less noticeable.
• Make the size of the casings generous. It won't harm anything if they're larger than they need to be, but if they're too small, it could make it difficult to insert the curtain rod and dowel.
• For an easy backdrop, tape or pin another piece of light fabric to the back of the top rod, or to the doorway.
• If you don't have the sewing skills, equipment, money, or time to complete this project, here's a simpler version you can improvise instantly with household objects. Set a broom handle or any dowel between two chairs. Drape a blanket or tablecloth over the dowel, and let the children's imaginations do the rest.

• This theater probably isn't appropriate for very young children. They need to be at least old enough to understand that they should not swing from the rods. Kids will probably need your help setting the theater up.

• A tension or spring style curtain rod of a suitable length to fit your recipient's doorway.
• A large piece of reasonably opaque fabric. You may buy fabric directly or look for a tablecloth, bed sheet, lightweight blanket, curtain panel, or other large piece of material to cut up.
• A wooden dowel of sufficient thickness not to sag. A half inch (1.5cm) dowel is about right, up to about an inch (2.5cm).
• Thread to match the fabric.
• A sewing machine with needle and bobbin.
• Sewing scissors
• Pins
• Puppets
• Sewing scissors
• Rope, string, ribbon or an extra strip of fabric