I have so far made puppets which needed no clothes, but a new one needs to be wearing a tshirt (which I have) and some sort of jeans or shorts. I'm using the Puppet Project patterns for body and legs. Any advice on what to do about the pants?

  hey!  to P&S!

It looks a little silly, but when I need special clothing for a puppet, I pack him or her in a plastic bag and head to Walmart or Kmart, and try clothes on. You get a few strange looks, (well, I do, anyway) but that way I end up with what I need. My puppets tend to fit size 3T and 4T.

You could do the same thing at a Salvation Army store, or consignment shop, to get the best deals. Once you know what size clothing your puppet looks good in, you can shop with confidence, because the puppet will never grow out of the clothes you get!

Are you using the simple series at the size they are....my understanding they recommend the Build a Bear Store for the clothing.  If you don't have a store near by you can buy the clothing online through there site. 

If you need a bigger size then a second hand store is the best like Chris recommended nice selection and variety and the price is always right.

Hope this helps....

Daryl H

I have some items from Build-A-Bear, and I've thought about getting kid clothes, but do you make a hole in the crotch big enough for the puppeteer's arm or do the pants hang off the front with the legs?

You can cut a hole right below the waistband for the hand to go into - I have done that with puppets that have a bottom opening and removable legs.

Yes cut a hole as described by LJ.  If you don't have legs you don't have to cut a hole you can just put your hand up one of the legs and into the puppet....just giving another option.

Daryl H

Maybe this will help

http://puppetsandstuff.com/community/index.php/topic,3689.0.html

http://www.puppetpub.com/costumes.html

Billy D.

Honestly, as rare as I need pants, I just make my own. Pants are so simple if you don't need pockets.
Personally I prefer making the legs removable and in front of my arm.

Thanks for all of the advice and the links! What a great resource this forum is!
Carol