I'm in the process of building my first puppet, but it's from scratch, without a pattern. So, now I'm not sure how long I should make the arms. Is there some rule of thumb to follow? Any help is much appreciated.

What I've done so far is make a "Full sized" drawing of my intended puppet, and taken my measurements from there.
It gives me a better idea of the necessary proportions and shapes.

I think that it depends greatly on the style and materials of the puppet. In human figure drawing, the upper arm is roughly 1-1/2 times as long as the head is high. The forearm is 1-1/4 headlengths.

That would be great for marionettes or rod puppets. Hand-in-mouth puppets tend to have large heads, quite out of proportion to body size. They are far more cartoonish than other kinds of puppets. In that case, I suspect trial and error is your best bet.

Thanks guys! I think trial and error will be the answer. I'm building this puppet as a stepping off point to build one for a friend. Lots of trial and error so far, but since that's kind of its purpose, I'm not getting too hung up on the mistakes. For the real deal, I'll absolutely take the advice to sketch it out life size. Great suggestion! Thanks again!

I always cut a piece of cloth with shape of a long arm, and I play with the rods, I like my puppets to be expressive, so if it's longer I cut it till I have the perfect long for expressiveness not proportional, all depends on size, materials, kind of puppet and personality. I hope this help.

I always cut a piece of cloth with shape of a long arm, and I play with the rods, I like my puppets to be expressive, so if it's longer I cut it till I have the perfect long for expressiveness not proportional, all depends on size, materials, kind of puppet and personality. I hope this help.

Definitely a help. Thank you guys! I'll be doing the arms tomorrow so we'll see how it goes. I'll post pics. Thanks again for the help!