Elmo Puppet Replica by Derek Thompson

[Muppetlab]

Realy great job man!! Hes spot on

 

[Derek Thompson]

The joy on a little boys face in a wheelchair at the premiere of the muppet movie tonight in Hollywood was the culmination of this build. This little boy in a wheelchair just looked up and yelled,"Hi Elmo!!!" and gave him a big hug and a high five. The look of love his mom gave us was priceless. It makes making this puppet all the more worth it. Just to make someone smile and have a special moment they didnt think expect. Onward and upward.

 

[mrfnydude]

Great Job. Great scale on Elmo as well. You got a great heart my friend. Keep those smiles going.

 

[FoxWorthy]

Great build! Looks like Elmo's world is now your world! Great photos on your blog too!

 

[Chuk]

The joy on a little boys face in a wheelchair at the premiere of the muppet movie tonight in Hollywood was the culmination of this build. This little boy in a wheelchair just looked up and yelled,"Hi Elmo!!!" and gave him a big hug and a high five. The look of love his mom gave us was priceless. It makes making this puppet all the more worth it. Just to make someone smile and have a special moment they didnt think expect. Onward and upward.

What did you use for his head. Im in the process of making a Elmo puppet myself and I need help with the body. Pls respond

 

[Chuk]

Hi, all
I am new to being a member here but I have read many of your valuable info on making puppets. I finally have a puppet to show and It is all thanks to this amazing site. I cant thank you enough for all the guidance just through the past posts. I think I got so much closer to what I wanted because of learning from everyones experiences.
I decided I wanted to make a puppet and so I chose to make an Elmo replica for my 2 yr old Daughter. She love Elmo and that was my motivation to start. I also figured that Fur, in a way, would be more forgiving than starting out with Fleece. I wanted to get comfortable with sewing by hand and assembling a pattern.
I know all the warnings of making a replica and the copyright laws thanks to this site. I have no intention of selling him. he is purely for the joy on my daughters face and the real joy for me of building him from scratch. For me the process and what i learn on the path to completion is so fullfilling. Boiling the fur to get just the right texture. I did all kinds of swatch experiments until i found the right combo for the Fur I had bought. The funny thing is I went to a foam store and I bought reticulated foam for Elmo but I didnt want to cut it up on my first attempt. So i went to the local fabric store and bought green foam sheet and made it out of that. I was so happy with the initial tests I just kept going and finished the puppet.
The reason I chose to do a replica was because I needed a mark to hit to judge if I was understanding these new principles. If it looks remotely like Elmo at the end then I did okay. I really enjoyed gluing all the foam and making posable hands and then cutting and sewing the fur together. Like so many of you have posted before the challenge was to find the right eyes for him. I thought I had a good solution for it with antennae balls but the were 40 mm. just alittle shy of 2 inches. I ended up ordering 55 mm ping pong balls and they worked great. I blew up the pattern about 15% but looking at it now that was alittle to much. 5% would have done me perfect. Consequently my Elmo looks good but hes alittle bit of a big boy. I think my daughter is going to flip.
I have several plans for my own unique puppets and I will post my progress on those as I go. Thank you again for everything. It has always been a dream to build my own muppet. Now I have. What to start next? Derek

What pattern did you use for the head

 

[Muppetlab]

What pattern did you use for the head

I think i replied to your same question yesterday on another Elmo thread.

He explains what pattern he used in the first few posts

 

[Chuk]

I think i replied to your same question yesterday on another Elmo thread.

He explains what pattern he used in the first few posts

Didn't see the pattern. I want an Elmo puppet that looks like the one they use in The early 2000s. Any advice

 

[Muppetlab]

Didn't see the pattern. I want an Elmo puppet that looks like the one they use in The early 2000s. Any advice

The Mostro pattern by Project Puppet is a great start

 

[Chuk]

a puppet similar to that. Any tips