I tried this one too. The crease, I hand sewed to give it  more strength.

Thanks for those tips, guys. It's those little things that people have learned from experience that really make a difference. I really like the cloth before stapling idea thanks Shawn.

I am currently playing around with boobs (if you will excuse the double entendre) Anyone got any good breast patterns they might like to share.

My first attempt I took the Roly puppet head from project puppets and reduced it by half:


Just a half ball really.

Then I used the same pattern but cut a small curve on the long seam, so when it is glued it creats a pear shape. What do you think?


Sorry the pics are being desplyed sideways

Looks pretty good to me. Either shape would work, depending on what you want.

Second will most likely look more normal but both would work.

OK guys today I had my first attempt at covering the puppet with fleece. I found a $3 polar fleece throw blanket in a flesh colour so I thought I would use that.
Used the same pattern as the foam base: just made it a bit longer on the mouth side and a bit shorter on the other sides( to enable a good stretch in the fabric): A tip I picked up on here from The PuppetLady!
The good thing about that is all the seams are on the back, except the chin seam.
I made the fleece cover in one piece (including the felt mouthpiece) rather than glueing the fabric onto the mouth as some suggest (as I feared I'd really stuff that up).
I think she turned out OK but the top lip doesn't quite fit snug against the foam base. Perhaps the felt mouthpiece should  have been a tad smaller.
Here's a pic of her (plus one of her wigged up):



I am now going to play around with eyes. I want to give her full lips as well and teeth.

I am thinking of using her for the show. So I would need to do the body in the same fabric and see if I can produce tattoos on it.

A question: when attaching breasts to a puppet should I cover the body in fleece and then sew (or glue) on separate fleece covered breast? (as they wont be hidden under puppet clothes.

PS: Thanks guys for all your help so far. This puppet making is highly addictive eh?

The mouth does look a little imperfect, but if you're giving her lips, it won't matter too much as you can hide any imperfections.

I'd attempt to cover the breasts at the same time as the rest of the body, so you have fewer seams. That may be tricky, so see how comfortable you are with it. You can try it out by draping the fabric over the puppet and then pinning the excess for removal. It's better explained here:
http://www.projectpuppet.com/servlet/Page?template=puppet-facial-features-tutorial#9

Looking good. Since you are thinking of adding lips to the puppet I would not worry to much about the top lip not fitting snug. You should be able to cover that. If you where not going to add a lip then you could always go in and at the back crease of the mouth remove a bit of the fabric and re-sew. Good call on sewing the mouth fabric in with the face fabric. This is always my choice instead of gluing when I can do it. I think it makes a cleaner line as a rule.

I think maybe try covering the body and breast separate. You could avoid some seams by using the draping method to cover both at the same time but that can get a bit tricky. If you did want to try that then I would suggest cutting a piece for your back of body first based on the pattern you used for the foam. Then cut a rectangle of fabric a bit wider the the widest of the back and longer then the other. Start from the top of body and see how it lays over the breast and where you would need tucks. You might even want to simply play with a hunk of fabric to see which way you want to orientate the stretch before you cut your rectangle. I get the feeling from what you have already done that you'll be able to figure this out.

Ahh... just saw Na's post... good link to check out on how to drape and make your pattern pieces.

Ahh... just saw Na's post... good link to check out on how to drape and make your pattern pieces.

Great minds and all that