So I was watching this new series on syfy 'Monster Man' and he was constructing a giant two headed foam shark puppet. Now in order to make the pattern he covered a taxidermy shark in tinfoil and masking tape and then he drew the pieces out on the model, cut them out and then used an overhead projector to make the pieces the size he wanted and then traced the projected pieces onto paper. Has anyone done anything like this before? It turned out very nice by the way.Seems easier and more fun than measuring and guessing when trying to make specific shapes.

I haven't seen the episode, but it sounds similar to this Instrucables project.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-sewing-pattern-from-a-packing-tape-mould/

Another variation of this method is the duct tape (or packing tape) dress from. I've used this method in the past to create a custom dress from of myself in a corset so I could drape gown patterns for the local renaissance festival. (That was the nerdiest technical sewing work I'd ever done.)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hanging-or-Tabletop-Duct-Tape-Dress-Form-with-Easy/

Odd that you would mention this! I was just checking out Rob H D'arc's photos over at FaceBook and he uses the same technique. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.455373634094.255029.549684094&type=3 I've never done this myself but really want to try it. I drape fabric to get pattern shapes but this seems much more precise when creating the foam pattern.

For those who have not seen 'Monster Man' on SyFy you should check it out. http://www.syfy.com/monsterman  A lot of what he does is puppetry and in fact he often uses the term puppet for his creations.

Check out last week's episode where he was making eyes for an alien mask. Very cool....

I used a similar technique to make a boot puppet.  I used some wal-mart sacks and tape and covered one of my husband's cowboy boots then cut the bag/tape cover apart at the "seams" and then I laid it out on paper and traced the pattern. It worked perfectly!

Here's the first boot I made - the prototype I guess you could call it.




I post this just to show the technique works!! I should have taken a picture of the process but I never remember to stop and take pics!

Love Monster Man. Love the boot too, must have one.

I remember that boot. That's a cool boot.