How do you make a Hand and Rod or Live-Hand Muppet?

[meepmuppaphones]

I've been searching through threads for an hour now and I haven't found anything that helpful, so I made this thread.

How do you build a head, for starters.

I know you have to carve a foam block, but then how to you stick your hand in there? How do you insert the mouth? How do you make eyes?

I'm also BuddleMcDuddled on how to make the body and arms. So I desperately need help.

Thanks!

 

[Animal31]

I would suggest maybe heading over to Project Puppet, they sell basic patterns you can download, and all come with hints and instructions.....thanks

 

[meepmuppaphones]

Thanks, but problem is... Where can I find Antron fleece? Maybe an arts-and-crafts store? Also, are there any health hazards od using things like Antron fleece or reticulated foam? Are there any hazards of the components of a Muppet?

 

[Animal31]

Muppets are still puppets, hot glued parts and arm rods may not be the best choices for children's puppets. I suggest starting out with some blizzard fleece and regular polyfoam sheets from Joanns until you get going. Antron and Reticulated Foam are much too expensive to use for "testing" your ideas at first. But to answer your question, there are a few on the forum that do sell Antron, I know CJ Puppets (Goochman) also dyes it for you for an additional fee as well...

 

[TheCreatureWork]

I agree with Animal31

 

[Goochman]

Yes I do sell custom dyed Antron fleece, but I 100% agree with Animal31. If you're just learning, don't waste your money. Go to Joanns and get a sheet of foam and some blizzard or anti pill fleece on sale. Grab a pattern from Project puppet and try it out. Once you get a feel for it, then feel free to spend tons of money on Antron from me

 

[Goochman]

And if you buy one of the simple series patterns from Project Puppet, they're downloadable PDF files that you just print and cut out. You can get started working 10 minutes after you buy it.

 

[Slackbot]

I agree with using cheap materials when you're learning. For one thing, your first effort will never be that great; you don't want to waste expensive stuff just fiddling around. Plus, using the expensive stuff ups the frustration factor; when it doesn't come out just right you get upset over wasting the raw materials. Using cheap stuff you can relax, knowing that if you make mistakes it's no biggie, just try again. You've got yards of fabric to spare!

On the other hand, I just made my first puppet. I happened to find cheap fleece that was the right color, so I was set for that. Since he's a Fraggle, I made his hair from ostrich feathers. I couldn't find cheap purple fur, so I bit the bullet and bought Punky Muppet, which looks great (and is more expensive than antron, you better believe)! And now the puppet is done, and I'm proud of him... and I wish to heck I used antron fleece, because that would look even better and hide the seams. Ah well, I learned a lot while building him, and did a lot of fabric-wasting false starts, so no biggie.

 

[Animal31]

Antron I feel is more comfortable and stretches better than the average fleece, but the new antron does not hide all the seams as well as the older antron did....

You can get some great results from picking at the blizzard fleece as you would the antron. Another solution would be to use the ladder stitch on the outside as well after it is sewn together, that works well too...