A puppet without a mouth

[Stryder Wolfe]

Hey Guys....I need some help. I'm sure ya'll will think this a simple question, but I can't figure it out and can't find the answer posted here.

Basically, I am making a cloth puppet, my very first, and I have a specific idea of what I want. I want his mouth to be firm, but also to be pliable so that if I pull my hand in I can make a scrunched up face. I think a good example of this would be waldorf from the muppet show...he could make his face scrunched up, but also had a defined mouth...I don't think it was made out of cloth, in any case. Hmm..come to think of it, kermit, with his "sheesh face" is another perfect example of what I'm doing. SOOOOO What do I use for the mouth? I want it to last, so I don't want to use cardboard, and I want it to keep a fold as well, so that it will have a shape without a human hand in it....is it possible? The only thing I've though of so far which may or may not work is some kind of foam or sponge that is folded over, and then sewed along the seam to give it a straight folded edge and shape. Is this a good idea? Is this such a basic question that I'm the only one who doesn't know? Please help!! Thanks!!

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I think you should invest in the Foam Book, because I've only found foam to be able to provide the kind of expressions you're looking to do.

Another suggestion is to just build puppets. Keep bulding them and practice playing around with their expressions to get the most out of them.

Muley puppet uses 2"foam for his upper Muzzle, lined with a product called "fun foam" for crafts.

See him at www.picturetrail.com/muleythemule under Muley the Mule (puppets).

 

[Stryder Wolfe]

what is this foam book you speak of and where would I find it?

 

[mkelley]

http://www.greysealpuppets.com/products.html

Note: you can also buy the book (and I think even the videos) through Amazon.com.

And Buck-Beaver will also probably advise you to try gasket rubber for your mouths. I bought some but haven't tried it yet, but it does look like it gives you a lot more movement possibilities. I think, though, for total scrunch up look I'd go with the aforementioned Craft Foam (also mentioned in The Foam Book).

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Hey Stryder,

Mkelly knows me well LOL, I really would suggest gasket rubber. I've tried various other approaches (including gluing layers of foam, felt and vynl together) but I switched completed to gasket rubber a year ago and haven't gone back.

There is a hardware store on Queen West that sells gasket rubber....I can't seem to find their business card but I am headed down there today. I'll grab their contact info and post it here tonight.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

There is a hardware store on Queen West that sells gasket rubber....I can't seem to find their business card but I am headed down there today. I'll grab their contact info and post it here tonight.

I went to check this place out and grab a business card but they were closed. The name of it is Jacob's Hardware and it is located on the north side of Queen St. West just west of Spadina. Their hours are 9 - 5:30 Monday - Friday and 9 - 1 on Saturdays. They sell gasket rubber in sheets cut to whatever size you need. They have a couple of different thicknesses, the thinner rubber is sold by size and the thicker is sold by weight I think.

If you are making a fairly small puppet, you can also find packages of small pre-cut 8" squares of gasket rubber (like the ones seen here) at most of the Home Hardware stores in Ontario.

 

[Stryder Wolfe]

awesome! Thanks, Buck! Great resource and right in Toronto I think I'll probably just need the small ones...the Puppet Had I'm going for will probably b about the size of a volleyball...

 

[Buck-Beaver]

The smaller gasket rubber pieces carried by Home Hardware probably won't be big enough (or strong enough) for a puppet head the size of a volleyball. I would definately go for the thicker rubber at Jacob's Hardware.

 

[Stryder Wolfe]

The smaller gasket rubber pieces carried by Home Hardware probably won't be big enough (or strong enough) for a puppet head the size of a volleyball. I would definately go for the thicker rubber at Jacob's Hardware.

right on..I'll have to ake a look there then. Although I would think that 8 inches would be big enough, but maybe they aren't thick enough...

 

[mkelley]

Buck-Beaver,

I picked up some gasket rubber from Home Depot in two different thicknesses -- one was a lightweight (but still much heavier than, say, the craft foam sheets recommended for mouths in many places) and another was about twice the weight, very thick indeed, both in 8" squares.

For the mouth I have in mind they are right sized, but I wonder about your thickness remark. I thought the whole idea of using this rubber was to get flexibility -- if I were to use the thicker piece it wouldn't be all that different from using foamcore board (it *does* bend but not to the degree that Kermit's mouth does, for an example). You seem to favor very heavy thick pieces -- have you tried thinner and, if so, what exactly are the downsides to that?

Yes, I could (and will) go ahead and test these pieces, but I'd love to get some feedback first to possibly save me some time and grief down the road.