How to make Puppets.. just any old puppets

[fozzieisfunny]

Pretty much what the title says. I want to start a puppet troupe, or something like that. But, the problem is I don't know how to make puppets. Could somebody help me?? The best kind of puppet I would like to make is a Muppet puppet. In advance, thanks.

 

[Jinx]

Welcome to the forum!

Making Muppet caliber puppets is not a simple task! But you can learn to make puppets from a number of different sources. My advice to you is to do some digging in this very forum. Don't ask for informational handouts, but really dig in and do some research. You'll be amazed at just how much info is already contained within these pages!

Two resources that I can personally recommend are Grey Seal Puppets' "The Foam Book" and DVD (which you'll notice has a sticky topic above) and Playsoup's "Sketch to Show" DVD series.

The Stan Winston School of Character Arts just had an extensive three-week course that finished up this morning that was incredibly informative. They may make the class available for online viewing at a later date.

I hope you're not looking for simple solutions, because there really aren't any. Every puppet is a custom project, and off-the-shelf products are extremely few and far between.

But if you're willing to do the hard work, the rewards will be great!

 

[fozzieisfunny]

Yeah, after all, I've made so MANY attempts, but never seem to get the right material or anything like that. Hmm... those resources do sound good. Do you know if there are any good how-to articles on this forum?? Because, I have digged deep into this forum, but all I can see is people telling about their puppets, and when I ask them how to make it, they never respond.

 

[Jinx]

Articles? No. But if you are not finding what you need, check out the resources I've mentioned. They contain everything you need to know to get a puppet onto your hand!

 

[ma0298]

I'm fairly new to making puppets but I started with the project puppet glorified sock puppet the pattern (my profile pic) which is like $15, and the cost for materials (depending on the quality of the fleece) is also like from $10-$20 per puppet and the instructions in the pattern are fairly simple the puppet on the left is my third one. Just consider your first puppet to be a learning experience and your second one will run out much better! ( just to warn you you should get a spray-on adhesive for the mouth plate instead of using hot glue, the hot glue makes dark spots on the mouth) hope this helps!

 

[fozzieisfunny]

Thank you!! What I'm trying to do is have some simple puppets ( sock puppets, glorified sock puppets, arm rod puppets, etc.) and have some very complicated puppets ( full-hand puppets like Rowlf, full-body puppets, or Muppets.) I'm trying to start out with the simple puppets, but trying not to spend too much money.

 

[ma0298]

Awesome! Sounds great just an idea for the arm rods are black wire hangers I found a pack of 10 or so for like $2 at Walmart and also, your first puppet is going to cost more than the rest of them because of tools materials etc. my 5th puppet that I am working on is a pretty complicated one, with a foam body and stuff so, I wouldn't suggest making your own patterns ( or attempting to like me) until you've gotten comfortable with your sewing skills

 

[fozzieisfunny]

I've never tried sewing!!! Which is the reason for my first puppet: A sock puppet with some arm rods. Thank you for the arm rod resource.