#puppet stuff!

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Cooper plush for you and me!

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Cooper was rebuilt! Cooper lovers pspspspspsps

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I LOOOVE COOPER PLEASE TELL HIM I SAY HI🫶

Hello Revival Effort! I'm a Fan of Raggedy Ann Too! Thank You for Your Service, All of You!

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Are there other puppets that you have made?

If so, who are they?

- 🌱

ive made a few!

cooper was the first one, then i made some finger puppets that were mice! greasy is one of these...

then i made Donovan who... doesnt really have much going on (he was for class lol)

and then most recently i made Harold for a puppet show i did at a local elementary school with my classmates! I also made a chicken for that same show!

i want to make more, ive designed many more that i plan on making at some point but i havent gotten around to it yet from intimidation or cost ': - p

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Hello hello!

I saw that you have made puppets! Andd I was wondering if you have any tips on making them ! (I am very new to puppeteering, and I am looking for all the help I can get)

Yes yes! I’ll try to give some of the most important things I’ve learned!

Have fun! Make something that makes you happy!

Plan out the design beforehand! Consider how the puppet will function with its form

Take your time with creating a pattern! I drape scrap fabric over my forms, then transfer them onto paper to create patterns. If you take your time, and take extra steps to make it neater, it will save you later! (There are tutorials on YouTube about this!)

Use the ladder stitch! It will hide nasty seams! With fur, use a whip stitch! (It’s easier if you look at the wrong side, like the picture below!)

Take chances! Try out materials, designs, bits, and boobles that you haven’t seen before! Focus on movement and character!

Make your patterns bigger than you think you need! Especially with parts like fingers, arms, ears, and noses. Smaller pieces need more room; it’s easier to make things smaller than bigger (extra around the mouth/lip is nice to have!

Avoid using glue! Stick to stitching if you can help it! If you use glue, try fabric glue with fabric on fabric, and hot glue with fabric on foam/styrofoam! (I used fabric glue for the felt and tongue here)

Use a fabric marker that has disappearing ink! It’s so much easier than using a pencil or permanent marker!

Don’t be discouraged if you make a mistake! I’ve made so many mistakes and have built enough puppets to know that they will happen. If something doesn’t work, or if something doesn’t make you happy, you can always try again! Doing somethin enough times and making things kinda crappy is the best way to get sorta good at something! (Bad hands, noses, stitches, rough edges, and bad wire! Yuck! All mistakes and bad decisions I’ve made!)

I hope these words and pictures help! I’m relatively new to building puppets and I have more to share if you need something in particular. I just don’t want to clog the feed or overwhelm. Thanks for the good question!

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Hiya Huck! I love very much your puppets you've been making as well as your amazingly cute animations and art! It's all very much an inspiration to me while I'm working on my own project! I was wondering because I am on the search for some groovesational puppet foam, where do you get yours? Do you have any recommendations for what to look for and, if possible, where to get it? Apologies if this has been answered before, and Thank you so much for your time! :o)

This makes me small, thank you so much for the niceys! <: - )c

This also makes me sound silly but I’ve been using upholstery foam! Someone gave me some old couch foam because they had to take it apart, and that’s what I’ve been using…

If I had money though, I would get reticulated foam! It’s great for its texture and lightness! It can be pricey however! But upholstery foam works fine as well, you just need to cover it, and it’s much heavier and denser… so carving the foam is the only way to get a proper shape rather than creating a form from a pattern 👍

Reticulated Foam

Reticulated foam (aka "Scott foam") is one of the best types of foam for puppet building and has been used by professionals for decades. Tex

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Hello, it seems you have more experience. I'm thinking of making a puppet for the first time and I was thinking of using plastic from a Landry detergent/fabric softener container for the mouth. My sister (she never made a puppet before either) thinks it won't be sturdy enough as I seen from others that they used a plastic container lid and my sister say that material was was sturdier. What do you suggest?

It doesn’t have to be that hard if you don’t want to! For cooper’s mouth, I used foam core! It’s the same material as those trifold boards you make presentations with!

I just bought one of these and cut the shapes out i needed for his mouth plate! The only downside is that it’s not malleable and it’s more likely to wear and tear! (Avoid cardboard for that reason!)

If you want a mouth that’s more malleable or bendy, you can use a thinner plastic… the lid should work fine but I’ve also had luck with the lids of plastic storage bins! If the puppet’s mouth is larger than around 5 inches, I’d go with something sturdier like wood or foam core ✌️ (won’t be bendable + material depends on how long you want your puppet to last!)