I've been using project puppets how to on doing this.  I'm curious if anyone has made a video how to on this?

I ask because thanks to the foam book, project puppet and youtube  I've made my puppet but adding the skin has been a problem.  I can't seem to find a good method for doing this.  I could buy the pattern for one of my puppets from project puppet.  I look at that as a dumb move though.  I have puppet heads from multiple shapes and need to learn how to do it the right way.  This also goes for the hands.  I'm struggling there also.

The method I use is to draw a line down the center of the puppet dividing it into two halves.  Then I lay a piece of fabric over one half of the puppet drawing and pinning the fabric into place.  Don't worry about trying to make the fabric follow the center line yet.  Gather the excess fabric into tucks so that the tucks are as far to the back of the puppet as possible.  You also want to make as few tucks as possible.  When you are done pinning the fabric in place trim off the excess fabric from the tucks and trim the excess along the center line.  If you have taken your time to do the job right you should have a piece that lies smooth and fits one half of your puppet.  You can use this half as a pattern for the other side of your puppet.

When just starting out its a good idea to use a piece of fabric you don't care about to make the pattern.  Usually I use anti-pill fleece to cover my puppets.  So for the pattern I use a piece of old T-shirt.  It has a similar stretch and if I make a mistake I haven't wasted good cloth.  the other advantage is now I have a pattern for covering that type of head.

For covering hands I just trace the hand onto a piece of paper.   Then I cut out the paper pattern and trace it onto a piece of fabric making sure to leave plenty of  fabric for the arms.  I then draw arms onto the fabric to the desired length and width.  Now I double up the fabric and take it to my sewing machine and sew the front and backs of the arms and hands together.  If you are using poly foam hands make sure to leave an opening large enough to allow you to insert the hands.  for the arms I've found that I prefer to use poly fill.  I like the way it acts.

Hope that all makes since.  It's really much simpler than it sounds.  You just have to be careful and patient so that you make sure and get it right.

have fun