I will be working on a series of puppet kits in the next month. I'm waiting for some supplies to come in before I can put them together. I will let those of you know what they are.

Billy D.

While my supplies come in I am starting on putting together my first kit which is a upgraded disected version of the blueboy pattern. I have a question though would you like the kit to have white fabric or already dyed ?

I want to keep these as simple as possible in the begining.

Billy D.

I think since you are reaching new clients to the puppet world I would dye the fabrics into three different colours and give people a choice of colour in the kit.  Some people may not have access to dye's and this would hold the project up for them.  Most people like to get the kit and jump in and not have to wait for materials or drying time. 

Another choice if you are really on the fence is provide with dyed material (three colours is a nice round number....to many choices makes it more difficult for the customers as well as you) and provide some that they can dye themselves.  It really is easy to provide this since if you get more order's for dyed material then just dye the white material and send it off.  So you have four choices in total for the kits....three different colours to choose OR one kit that they can dye themselves.

Daryl H

Ok second question? would most people prefer the kits to come with everything precut ready to assemble or have all the iems in raw form and a pattern to cut out and assemble themselves ?

Billy D.

Feedback is appreciated.

You could trace the patterns on the material to help with the lay out on the material but I would not pre-cut I think that it is part of the process of making the puppet and making it more hands on and interactive. 

If that would be to much work then you should provide in the instructions how to lay out the pattern on the material in the most economical way......my thoughts are to trace them yourself they do everything else.

Daryl H

BTW Billy whether you provide the dye material or not you should put information in the instructions on how to dye material and the tools needed.  Just for future reference even if they choose to buy the pre-dyed material. 

Just another thought.

Daryl h

Thanks Daryl............... You are the king of the classroom when it comes to puppet making. I'll take your advice and put it in the bank.

Billy D.

Billy this is a great idea. Years ago some friends of mine tried this before the internet but I think it will really work out now with the internet for marketing. What about an eye and nose kit with different types and materials some of the un usually things that get used to make them.

Jay................. the way I'm looking at doing this will be like the build a Bear workshop but doing it with puppets. So you would first choose a style of puppet, what type mouth assembly, what type eyes, and what type hair. I'm not going to fool with the clothing at this stage of the game.

Billy D.

Billy, great idea marketing puppet building kits.  I suggest that you make the puppets so that they fit a certain size of childrens clothing for maybe even the clothes at build-a-bear.  Then it will be easy for consumers to out fit their puppet and you don't have to worry about the expense of keeping you're own stock on on hand.  In regards to the kits themselves, keep it as simple for yourself as possible. Maybe, two or three puppet head types, three colors, one type of mouth assembly, a few different options for eyes and noses, etc.  More advanced builders won't feel limited and beginners won't be overwhelmed or confused. 

I vote for having the foam and fabric pre-traced.  This will maximize efficiency in the use of the product and ensure that the parts are oriented properly in relationship to the stretch of the fabric (in each of the two puppet building workshop I've lead we had expamples of what happens when the strectch is wrong, not pretty.)  But I agree with Daryl, part of the joy of working the kit is to do as much of the build as possible.

Billy, why not make the puppets so that they fit a certain size of childrens clothing for maybe even the clothes at build-a-bear.  Then it will be easy for consumers to out fit their puppet and you don't have to worry about the expense of keeping you're own stock on on hand.

That's a great idea to build the puppets to specs that would tie into the existing build a bear line.  For instance, I make play sets that go with my little Whittle dolls but the shipping is outrageous so I only sell them in local craft fairs.  Therefore, I made sure that my Whittles are the same size and compatible to the existing vintage Fisher Price Little People play sets and Thomas the Train play sets.  This is also appealing for collectors.

I really like your idea of the puppet kits.  Fun to make pictures or drawings available to choose from for each part like a menu!