I know that many puppet builders use antron fleece (or whatever it will be replaced with shortly) or anti-pill fleece.  I was wondering if there are any other fabrics with similar stretchy qualities that will give different looks; crushed velvet or fur for instance?

well, firstly, antron isnt actually antron anymore, it has already been replaced by something very similar to antron fleece, but its not the same, and secondly, what are you trying to achieve, because you can really use anything you want for building puppets, its all to do with your imagination, but most people will base thier fabric choice on seam hiding ability (unless you arent too fussed about the seams showing) so something with a good 'nap' is preffered, i personally have used all kinds of fleece, they all have a decent two way stretch, but ive also used stretch terry cloth and had some amazing results (just check out our friends at puppetpeople), crushed velvet is good for some things, but doesnt hide seams, and lycra is awesome to use, but again does not hide any seams and has to be used carefully (glue will soak right through), you can get some nice stretch short and long fur, which is always a joy to use, but like i said, it really depend on what you are making to what fabric we could suggest!!
have you got something in the pipeline?

I agree you can use most any type fabric with a two way stretch or four way stretch. Using different textures of fabric as Jeezbo said can give some character to your puppet. I like to keep on file a variety of fabric/fur swatches so I can feel and compare fabrics. I keep also the information about each one such as Manufacture,lot#,color,size,price,etc.

When starting something I tend to be very organized -especially if it will cost me quite a bit of money.  Right now I am doing a lot of searching out of materials and possibilities.  I have a couple ideas but I wanted to search out and price out various different fabrics and materials so when a project called for them I would know exactly where to go and approximately how much it would cost.  For me planning can be part of the fun though I don't always plan quite this extensively.

Some ideas I have been tossing around:

A cat - I have an old Halloween cape made from crushed velvet that I had thought I could use but it has no stretch to speak of.

A steampunk/robot - I had been thinking of some sort of semi metallic fabric that gave the impression of brass or copper but am having trouble finding something that would work well.  Something tells me that the thin metallic spandex-type fabric that I am currently aware of would not be very forgiving if anything became flawed with the foam beneath it.

Yeah, Lycra/spandex isn't as forgiving as other fabrics, but its one of those fabrics that you use specifically for something, anyway, a crushed velvet cat sounds great, i envisage one of those Egyptian cats that look like they are covered in velvet, tho i cant remember the breed right now. if you need some ideas on using this fabric with a foam understructure, our friend Phillip over at thistldownpuppets.com made a dragon for a client a few months ago out of crushed velvet fabric, it looked amazing and he really used the fabrics qualities to his advantage, wrinkles and all!!

A steampunk robot sounds awesome too, the metallic spandex would work fine i think, as steampunk is usually to do with a slightly aged mechanical look, and any imperfections would become a chance to experiment with adding a few more bolts, rusty sections, etc.. to cover up the bits you weren't fond of (this is a massive lesson you will learn about puppet building, you can stumble across some of the most amazing things when trying to rectify mistakes and problems) and also the spandex's stretchy nature would be great for covering an interesting foam understructure, then where the seams are, you could glue on some metallic funky foam sections with fake bolts to really emphasize the steampunk look.

whatever you decide, we can help and don't forget to take some pictures of the process, we love pictures and you will be thanked for it!!

I am the kind of person that keeps a file full of fabric swatches and the manufacturers info too, they can come in handy for all sorts of things, but when i find a fabric that i really like, i buy an entire bolt of it, and i have an entire workshop of fabrics (although i make puppets for people all over the world, so the fabric doesn't last that long) it also helps when I'm feeling creative and just want to make something wacky!!!!

anyway, i hope that we have been of some help so far!!

I will definitely look Phillip up!

On the metallic spandex... I have been thinking about perhaps backing the spandex with some anti pill fleece.  It would definitely give the metal look an interesting texture though keeping it from sliding about would be a challenge.  Perhaps a light adhesive to bond the two fabric pieces together?  If I worked with smaller sections of fabric at a time do you think that could work?

It sounds like you want to do what is called flat lining. That is when you take your two pieces of fabric that you have cut out and sew them together around the edge before you put all your pieces together.

Here is a video that shows what I am talking about. I personally use a machine and here she is doing it by hand but I think it will give you an idea of what I am talking about. When I do it by machine I make sure to pin my two pieces very well before I flat line them together.
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https://youtu.be/4oRbZQqcWWg