Thank you Shawn and Chris. Yep a bit ambitious for the first attempt, just that I had some blocks of foam and just plowed ahead. In fact I didn't really think about the design as much, just experimenting with the gluing, shaping and applying fabric.

I have watched a YouTube segment which has given me a better idea as to how to shape the fabric and I will be testing that out soon.

Next puppet I make I will draw it out first and get a better idea of planning the build. Just waiting on a stock pile of materials.

I have yet to hunt down a supplier in Australia or New Zealand for the fleece materials and felts. I am eager to have a go at silicon skin as well, that looks really interesting. The hardest part is finding some time in between everything else.  

The main thing is that I am having fun with it and the Grand kids love the puppet I have made so far too, so that is what matters the most. Got keep the Grand kids happy.

If you are using a PC, rather than a Mac, there may be a way for you to access these YouTube videos and spend less time online, since online time is expensive for you. MPC-BE is a free video player. With it you can download and save videos from Youtube directly far faster than it takes to view the video. Then you can watch them at your leisure whenever you choose.

You can download it here.

Jezebo.... Do you mean playsoup?

Yeah, that's what I meant, my brain had obviously decided to switch off for a few seconds!!

I think your puppet looks great, its a very good start seeing that its only your first puppet, but don't be worried about making lots of mistakes, that's how we all learn and its true that the more you experiment and try things outside your comfort zone, the more you learn and you will definitely get the feel for what works and how to use different fabrics. as long as the mouth moves freely and is easy to use, the rest is just playing around and having fun!! silicone skin can be great, it can also be slightly expensive too, but if you would like to have a go at a really cheap and easy silicone skin method, then check out pagestep007, he is a member here and created a video on YouTube to teach a great silicone skin method using readily available bathroom sealant silicone applied to foam puppets, its really easy and gives great results, and it doesn't break the bank!!
all that has been said though, just remember that there are no rules to this puppet making thing, just let us know when you find something that works for you, because we love to share ideas and we also love to see pictures too!!
Ben.

Thank you so much for the pointers.

I have actually seen pagestep007's work on YouTube and it is brilliant and he said a brief hello to me as well on this forum (Fellow Kiwi NZ'r).

I have downloaded the MPC BE and actually found a down loader that is an add on to my Mozilla browser, that works very well. We pay by the MB's so that what pushes up the price a little, but still cheaper than a flight to the mainland.

Yep the mouth movement is the very first mistake I had made on my first puppet and it is still fixable, so have learned a lesson there.

I have also found a number of YouTube Videos made by Adam Kreutinger and the first one was creating a pattern, in this one he used a cap.

Thanks again and I will be a busy guy for the next few days reading up, browsing and watching videos...

If you don't use a seam ripper or go back and do a fix your puppet will suffer, we are seldom perfect on the first pass. It is a process and the more you work at it the better you will get.  You started very well so you should go far quick.  Thank you for sharing all your thoughts it will help the next new person who is having those same feelings.  We were all beginners once too.

Almac2.. loooking  good. You are off to a great start. Keep it up.

Thanks Snail and Pagestep007 I have just received some sheets of foam I had ordered from Brisbane Australia and really excited about making another puppet.

I have seen some free patterns online and one little hiccup I have and need to learn it how to scale the patterns up to the size I need. (I have actually used a screen grab (print screen) from one of your video's pagestep007 and when I cut out the crown pieces of foam I had cut them out too small. I have scaled down the crown plug and made will make a smaller puppet out of it...all part of the learning curve...I love it!

Is it easier to do it on the computer using Excel spreadsheet as graph paper or would you recommend another program? It looks like I need to go back to school to learn scaling techniques. I know that each segment in a graph represents the size, it is a matter of getting my head around it all.

I have found a video online by Adam Krutinger which demonstrates making a puppet using a segment out of a cap (hat) as a template. I have cut up a cap I had and have the segment all ready to make up my first Muppet style puppet. The segment is the right size and does not need to be scaled up or down.

I also forgot to mention that I have a wealth of examples and pictures etc now that I have pinned on Pinterest and have some followers too   

Well if you are looking for the "old fashion" way of scaleing a pattern, have a look at this.



If you have a place on the island that does copies then do it the easy way and take the original to them and have them enlarge or reduce it.

You are correct that if you see a pattern that is on graph paper then the there should be some indication of the size of the squares. Then when you are enlarging you know that if you enlarge till the squares are those dimensions that you have the original size of the pattern. Hmmm... not sure if I explained that very well... anyone else have a better explanation?

I use Inkscape, a freeware vector based graphics editor. Then it's a simple matter of importing the pattern (for example if the pattern file is a pdf) and deciding how much larger or smaller I want the pattern to be. Just stretch the box the appropriate percentage, and boom! You have a new size!

You can download Inkscape here.