Puppet Making Supplies in London?

[rikin]

Hey there all

I'm wanting to make my children's picture book character as a muppet/puppet and need some much er, needed advce!

I cannot seem to find any shops in Central London where I can get the materials for this. Eg, the foam sheets for the body, green fluffy fur etc etc.

Does anyone here know of any shops/stores where I can check them out and start making?

I've found a few online suppliers of blocks of foam, but would rather walk around a store and see the materials etc.

Please help!

Rik

 

[pashmonster]

fur

Foam isnt easy to come by in the shops here in uk, most upholstery stores only sell it 1 inch thick or thicker and really doesnt need to be any thicker than half an inch. it isnt easy to cut it down either. I used ebay and bought half inch sheets for my puppets. i have attached a link for 2 of my puppets which i used half inch foam to make.

Fur is sold in most fabric shops but they tend to have a few colours stocked. Again i used ebay and its worth buying a better quality fur than cheaper because cheap fur can have patches in it or just fall out over time.

I dont live in london so cannot say what stores there are but i have looked in a 30sq mile area where i live and found hardly any decent stores stocked fur so resorted to ebay.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53875519@N02/5110745594/

 

[hoopless]

Hi I'm just starting to look in to puppet building myself and found this place for the foam http://www.pentonvillerubber.co.uk/foam.html
I believe it's reticulated foam you need. I've not purchased any yet but this is hat they said when I enquired about prices

We keep reticulated foam in sheets 2000mm x 750mm in beige 45ppi and black 20ppi. The price is approximately £27.00 per 25mm thick sheet.

As for covering materials, antron fleece seems impossible to get here, I don't know the difference between that and normal fleece (something to do with stretch and durability from what I gather) but www.calicolaine.co.uk have a wide range of fabric including furs and they'll send you free samples if you just fill in the form on the site.