Puppet Building Process

These photos are quite old, and don't really reflect how I build puppets now, but they show the basic process I followed when I started building puppets.

I thought it may be helpful for anyone out there getting started building puppets of their own.


Building the head
This puppet's head was originally a "failed attempt" at building something else.  It didn't turn out like I'd pictured it, but I was able to recycle it as something else.

Lesson 1:  Mistakes aren't bad.  If something doesn't come out quite right, you've just learned something.  Plus, in this case, you are left with an extra puppet head.

The mouth-plate:
One of the most important features of a puppet, it's mouth plate.  You don't need to start with the mouth, but I did.  Doing so makes sure that the characters mouth fits your hand, and grows comfortably from there.
This is just one way to do it, however.  There's no wrong way to build a puppet.

I used craft foam for the mouth itself, and the hinge, layering it to make it sturdy, yet flexible.

I added a foam cuffs to the top and bottom to hold the puppeteer's fingers in place.













(This could have made an interesting character if I had stopped here.)












The skull:

I found a basic sphere pattern online, made up of wedges.












I fiddled with it and modified it a bit, and used this to make the top of the head.

Then, I put the skull-cap, and mouth together.

Unfortunately, I didn't document the rest of the head's build after this point, since it happened much later.
Not pictured:
Putting fabric "skin" onto the head
Making and attaching a neck-sleeve

Luckily though, there isn't a whole lot to say about those steps.  I figured them out by trial and error, and you can get a pretty good idea of how it works from the following pictures.


The Body:

The body pattern was made with a similar wedge-based idea as the head was.  However, I altered it quite a bit.
That process is a bit too tedious and technical to address here.
A simplified way to approach it would be to start with a cylinder, then adding and subtracting wedge-shaped "darts" until it is shaped right.






Hands & Arms

I decided to make both live-hand and rod-hand arms for this puppet (to be able to have either, as needed).

The short version of this is to draw a hand shape, and sew it.  It's not all that complicated.


Live hands must be big enough to work as gloves.  The puppet's arm has an extra sleeve between the wrist and elbow, where the puppeteer's hand enters.

Finishing up

The puppet is not on my head, but it's fun to pretend.

Then I put skin on everything.  I don't have these steps documented, but if I did, it would be a lot of similar not-very-interesting-or-helpful pictures.  Also, at the time of building this one, it was a lot of trial-and-error on my part.


I designed this puppet so that its arms, head and body would be interchangeable (I made two sets of arms, and had planned on making different heads and bodies, too).  This would allow for a great deal of combinations of shapes and characters from just one puppet.  (I wanted to have a versatile "extra" that could play a mailman, someone's aunt, secret agent, livestock, etc.  as the need arose.)

What started all this puppet business, anyway?

Years ago (high school), I had the idea to create a video series with some puppet characters.
I liked the idea, and always wanted to do something with puppets.

There were a few impediments preventing me from doing this, though.
First and foremost:  I didn't have any puppets.  I had no idea where I could find one that didn't look like a toy, and I didn't know the first thing about making them myself.

The short version of the story:  I still haven't gotten to that video series, but I managed to teach myself the ins-and-outs of puppet building.

As I was learning how to put puppet characters together, I ended up making a few characters for friends and family.  One thing lead to another, and I began offering my services selling custom puppets, which is why you're seeing this webpage right now.


I built a cast, then life hit me hard (college will do that), and I wasn't able to pursue video-making much.  I did make the occasional test here and there, though.

Such as this "gem" before all the characters were finished:

I started on a character that was perhaps a bit more ambitious than I should have attempted as a beginner.

I worked with materials that I could find, and made sure to save my patterns, in case I stumbled backwards into any "happy accidents" that I wouldn't be able to replicate later.









All things considered, this character turned out pretty good for a first attempt.  I've considered going back and giving it real eyes and teeth.











You can see it here, with a few of my other, very primitive early puppets:

I had even made plans for some more elaborate characters:

And eventually, I amassed enough of a "cast" to put some sort of videos together.  






But, like I said, life got in the way of that goal.  School demands attention, you know.

Around this time, I also made an attempt to sell some puppets, too, since I'd just learned a pretty interesting skill.
For a hobby-level, I did pretty well with that.

Which, eventually resulted in the webpage you are now reading, and the armfuls of puppets that we've built for people.
And, if you're interested, you can have a custom puppet from us.
Have a look at our custom information, and order form here.