Antron fleece is a 12 oz nylon fleece. It was originally developed for use in military clothing. Today, it’s major use is puppets and mascot building. Antron Fleece has a thick, soft pile on one side and a smooth underside.
Why Use Antron Fleece?
Antron fleece is the puppet maker’s favorite for several reasons
It is easy to hide seams with Antron Fleece. Once you have sewed your seams, you can use a needle or a piece of Velcro to pick the fleece out from under the thread and it will fluff over the thread.
It is stretchy. The fleece has a one-way stretch. This stretch is great for draping the fleece over a puppet head. You can get a tight fit on your puppet by using the stretch.
Antron fleece is easy to dye. RIT dye works great with Antron fleece. For more about how to dye your fleece, see my article HERE
What Colors Is Antron Fleece Available in?
Antron Fleece comes in white. You will need to dye it the color you want. Unlike most fleece from fabric stores, Antron Fleece is nylon, not polyester. Polyester fleece will not take dye very well. Antron Fleece does dye very well. Just using RIT dye, you can get virtually any color you want.
Dharma Trading Company has 70 different Acid Dyes available if you want to dye your own fleece. Acid Dyes work great on Antron Fleece. But, there are a couple of suppliers that sell Antron Fleece that has been dyed for you. Puppet Pelts has a wide variety of colors available and they are very economical.
Puppet Pelts offers Antron Fleece in a wide selection of colors
Dying Antron Fleece
The main objective of dying is to get an even color. Using two large plastic storage containers for a normal-sized project. Fill one with clean water. Fill the other with hot tap water. Make the dye bath deep enough to cover the fabric.
Before lowering the fleece into the dye bath, soak it in the clean bath. Try not to squeeze the water out. Place the fleece quickly into the dye. Soak the fleece.
Just like a tie-dyed tee shirt, if the fleece is folded or twisted, the dye won’t soak up those areas.
You will need to gently stir the dye bath to ensure even coverage. Do not overwork it or it will cause the fleece to pill (Pilling is when a fabric mats into little balls).
Instead of a single “dip” with a strong color, make multiple dips, darkening the fleece little by little. This method works especially well when dying darker colors. Rinse the fleece.
After the fleece has been artificial the specified color, remove it from the dye bath. Rinse underneath running water till the water squeezed from the material is obvious.
Lay the fleece flat to dry overnight. Do not put it in a dryer. Drying Antron fleece in a drier can cause the fleece to pill up.
Can I get A Custom Dyed Color of Antron Fleece?
Puppet Pelts can make custom dyed Antron Fleece for you. If you want a special color, you will need to supply them with a Pantone swatch or color description.
The Pantone swatch is the best way to go if you want a color to be exact. Pantone is the standard for colors and is used by many major US distributors.
You will need to pay a setup fee, in addition to paying for the fleece. So unless you are ordering a large quantity, or getting a really big check for a custom puppet, you will want to order several yards. Puppet Pelts says it takes about two weeks to fill custom orders, so plan ahead.
Is there a substitute for Antron Fleece?
No. For building a fabulous foam head puppet, there is no substitute for Antron Fleece. But it is expensive.
Puppet Pelts recently developed a polyester fleece that is a good fleece for puppets. It is not quite as fluffy as Antron, but it does hide seams very well.
As Antron fleece, aka nylon fleece, is becoming harder to get, the new Puppet Pelts Polyester Fleece is a good replacement. This link will save you 10% off your Puppet Pelts purchase.
For hobbyists, Polar Fleece, available at JoAnn Fabrics and other fabric stores works fine. It has enough pile to hide seams, though not as well as Antron Fleece. It has a stretch and is easy to work with.
For professional puppets, Antron is still the puppet maker’s choice.
Do I Need To Shave My Antron Fleece?
If your fleece has pilled, and you want a smooth surface, shave it. Here are some guidelines:
Use double-bladed disposable razors or a beard clipper.
Shaving one puppet head will dull blades quickly and it will take several razors to achieve a smooth, even surface.
Be extra careful anywhere the puppet has uneven surfaces, including seams, corners, and folds of the puppet head.
The result of shaving fleece is a creamy finish that is lovely. However, if the fleece is shaved too short, it limits the fabric’s ability to hide seams as effectively.
How it looks when Antron Fleece is stitched and how well it covers seams.
Stitching Antron Fleece
You can use a machine but for the best results, hand stitching is the way to go. Keep in mind that stitches should be very close to the edge of the fabric, but not so close that the edge will unravel; the stitches have to be fairly small, and the tension of the stitches has to be reasonably consistent. Other stitches can be used but the whip stitch is easiest and the fastest.
Be sure to check out my RESOURCES page here to find the materials and tools I use. CLICK HERE
I do hope this has helped and please, subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date with new articles, videos and more.
Save 10% on your Puppet Pelts order. Discount applied at checkout.
Librarians, school teachers, and children’s ministry workers all find puppets a great way to engage and interact with children, (and adults). Stages can be expensive and often outside the budget for a classroom.
Most of us remember the beautiful and elaborate puppet theatre used in The Sound of Music, where a dozen or more marionettes appeared on tri-level stages.
However, for most of us, such a magnificent piece will have to remain on our wish list. And that’s okay! We’re providing tips herein on various ways to make puppet theaters out of cardboard boxes and household items. They’re easy to create, will fit any budget, and will further your journey to providing great puppet shows for your classes. Below are four styles of puppet stages that can be done on a shoestring—well, maybe a piece of clothesline!
Table of Contents
The PVC Pipe Stage
PVC Pipe Stage
A PVC Pipe Stage is great for permanent locations or for taking from location to location. Because the pipes just slip in and out of the connectors, set up and tear down are a snap.
I suggest at least a 2″ PVC pipe. You will join the pipes at the corners with elbows and T’s. The basic design is two PVC rectangles for the front and back joined together with pipes running on both sides.
PVC Puppet Stage Curtains open to show frame.
The back rectangle is higher than the front and can be raised a foot or two higher to create a contrasting backdrop. You may even want to paint scenery on the back curtain. Puppeteers work between the curtains, sitting on chairs. Additional puppeteers can work, standing behind the back curtain. Side curtains hide the puppeteers in front.
You can get complete instructions from the link at the bottom of the article.
PVC Pipe Stage
The Curtain Stage.
The curtain stage. This stage is simply a piece of clothesline with a bed sheet draped over it. Puppeteers use the edge of the clothesline as the stage, and puppets appear immediately above it. Puppeteers sit or stand behind the sheet and play the puppets over their heads. You can do this by running a clothesline from one wall of your classroom to another. The stage is the area covered by the sheet. While this is certainly the easiest stage to make, it is challenging to use for a couple of reasons:
First entrances and exits of puppets are awkward. Kids are distracted from the story when puppets merely drop out of site for an exit or pop up suddenly. It isn’t realistic for them. We recommend that if you use this type of stage, have puppets act like they’re going downstairs to exit and coming upstairs to enter.
Second, there is no shelf to put props, which means your puppets will have to hold any props. Having their little arms wrapped around something limits their movement and hence their responses. One solution to this is to line their hands with Velcro and also put Velcro on the prop. Have the puppet act using one hand with the prop secured in the other.
The Folding Stage
The Folding Stage. This can be made from a large cardboard box. The front is the largest piece of cardboard, which should be five to six feet tall and at least four feet wide. The sides are equally tall but perhaps only two feet wide. They can be attached to the front piece with strips of gaffer’s tape so that they fold in after the production and fold out halfway for the production, to give the stage area the ability to stand. A hole should be cut in the front pieces, which will be your stage. The hole should be at least four feet wide (remember, you may need three people backstage, and all should fit behind). You can use the gaffer’s tape to hold a curtain in place or hang a curtain rod on stick-hooks such as those for a college dorm room. Puppets will appear in front of the curtain. Most puppet Theaters need a “shelf” or “flat” stage to hold props. This can be made by cutting a strip of cardboard that is three inches wide and six inches longer than the hole for your stage. In each end, cut one slit and fit the flat piece across the bottom of the hole with the slits holding it in place. You can secure it with triangular shelf supports from your local hardware store. They will stick to the cardboard if you use hot glue, gaffer’s tape, or even nuts and bolts. The securing pieces will prevent the stage from tilting and dropping props onto the floor. Puppeteers sit or stand behind the stage, depending on how tall they are and how tall the cardboard piece is. A folding stage can be made from a box that contained a garden bench or other piece of furniture. Sometimes you can secure a box this size by calling a furniture store or a large-volume supplier such as Sam’s Club. While harder to find, some Sunday school teachers opt for this stage because it folds up and can be stored easily.
The Table Stage
The Table Stage. This is a puppet theatre made of a cardboard box that sits on top of a table. The box still needs to be sizeable—perhaps four feet tall and at least four feet wide, but teachers often opt for this theatre for several reasons:
First, this size box is easier to find; a large air conditioning unit might come in such a box or a large vacuum cleaner.
Second, the table means that there is a place to put a script and extra puppets and props. Puppeteers sit behind it, putting a table cloth over the table first so that their legs don’t distract children.
Finally, it is smaller and therefore easier to decorate. While it can’t be folded and stored as easily, you can leave it in the room and allow children to play with the puppets during free time.
The table stage follows the instructions for the tri-fold puppet theatre above in how you make the shelf and attach the curtain. Some important notes for all puppet theaters. One piece that can’t be neglected in a puppet theatre is the curtain. It is the “frame” of another world that separates the puppets from the puppeteers, and children want to be a part of that world. Curtains should be thick and/or dark in color so that the lights from the room don’t shine through and make you visible. If children can see the puppeteers—either their legs or their faces behind the curtain, it cuts into their belief in the story.
Stage Lighting
If you perform your puppet shows in a dark room using spotlights, flashlights can be used. However, they must be stationary, not held by people who will fidget and accidentally move them. That can be distracting. Lights must be tested to make sure that they reflect off the fabric and not illuminate the person behind it.
Tips on Decorating your Puppet Theater
Tips on Decorating your Puppet Theatre. You can make elaborate designs on your puppet theaters and really use your imaginations.
Backdrops: Various curtains can be made to show different background settings. You can cut squares from a white sheet and paint on them to provide backdrops for various scenes. White sheet backdrops should be hung in front of the dark curtain and should not replace it.
Curtains: Curtains should be plain so that they don’t eclipse the little characters in front of it. However, they can be royal blue or red or deep green; they just shouldn’t be plaid or paisley, etc.
Theaters: Theaters can be colorful, and some classes have done things like posted pictures and bios of the puppets as if the theatre was a Broadway playhouse. Some make computer banners stating the name of the production to run underneath the staging area. As with the curtain, you want bright and cheerful colors, but not something that will distract from the characters once the production starts.
To get your creative juices flowing, we suggest you look at puppet theaters online and use their ideas when possible. Your puppet theater should be your own creation or those of your students, but wonderful ideas are available to those who like to surf. And again, feel that meager talents with a paintbrush won’t be good enough. Children have great imaginations, and what you believe in, they will believe in. Put most of your effort into making your puppets come to life.
…
If you are looking for an inexpensive, simple puppet stage, I like this ONE
Imagine the impact of puppets teaching biblical truths. Through television, puppetry has become part of our popular culture. It is proven effective in teaching children letters, numbers, and values.
A great ministry team needs effective leadership and dedicated members. A systematic approach to rehearsals and performing assure continued success.
Since 1999, I have been using puppets to minister to boys and girls and men and women around the world. I am convinced that puppets are a great way of teaching boys and girls, men and women, people of all ages about the good news of Jesus Christ. Puppetry has been used to captivate audiences for ages. You see, puppetry is not just for children, it’s for adults too.
Puppets are very popular in churches today and they’ve been used in ministry for centuries. In fact, the string puppets we know as marionettes a word that means “little Mary” got their name because they were used in church nativity plays.
So what is puppet ministry?
It can be a number of things. It can be one Sunday school teacher using a small puppet in a classroom to tell a Bible story.
It can be a group of teenagers directed by adults who use puppets to perform skits and songs in their community, in their church or anywhere they have the opportunity, or it can be a number of children or teens or adults in children’s church from week to week. They use puppets to tell Bible stories, to sing songs and to interact with the children.
There are many different styles of puppets in ministry. The most common type of puppet is the moving mouth style hand puppet. This is what we use in our ministry.
Other puppet teams use black-light puppets, marionettes and some even use dowels.
Sock Puppets are simple yet captivating. (Stock photo)
If your puppet team is truly going to be an effective ministry, you have to take some time to figure out what God’s purpose is for you.
Maybe he wants you to be involved in children’s church right there in your own congregation, or maybe he’s got some outreach he wants you to do.
Maybe he wants you to take that puppet team to the senior citizen homes or to the inner city, or take a trip and perform in other churches.
After you have figured out that purpose, try to write it down. Put It on paper, pray about it. Allow God to talk to you. A sample mission statement might go something like this, “to train and disciple our churches, youth for ministry, and to creatively present the Gospel to those outside our church.”
One thing every puppet ministry needs is a good leader.
Somebody who knows where he’s going and how to get there. It’s tough for one person to direct a whole group of puppeteers all by themselves. It helps when there are other leaders, leaders.
How many leaders? One good rule of thumb is a one to six ratio. One leader for every six puppeteers. That way your assistant directors can help you with all the jobs that need to be done.
Those assistant leaders can do things like leading devotions or running sound and lights, maybe even prop making anything. You see, it helps when that leader does not have to do things all by himself.
Plan on having regular meetings with your assistant directors talk and pray together about everything you’re planning to do. The more help you have from assistant leaders, the more sanity you’re going to retain and the longer your ministry will be able to function.
Once your leadership team is in place, the next thing you’re going to need is puppeteers. Almost anyone can learn to become a puppeteer. Some puppet teams are made up of kids from the youth group. Some are made up of older children while others are made up of committed adults.
Last year, my twins started to help with the puppets during VBS programs. They were 8 at the time. They helped by adding more puppets to the show during songs. In the past year, they have really gotten better and better.
In some churches, we have taken young teens and shown them how to use puppets and used them in our VBS program at their own church. This lead to one church starting their own puppet ministry.
There really is no perfect age for a puppeteer. However, puppet teams usually work best when everyone is about the same age. This makes it easier to select the height of the puppet stage so that everyone can perform easily.
It’s worth mentioning that some younger children may have difficulty operating the puppets. Puppet Ministry is a very physically demanding activity and some younger kids may have trouble holding their arms up for longer periods of time. We found it best to work with boys and girls about fifth or sixth grade and older. That would be about age 11 or 12 many of these puppeteers have continued to work with the puppet team throughout their high school years.
Try to select puppeteers who can make their puppet ministry involvement a high priority. It’s okay to have busy people as long as they can commit to regular team rehearsals and performances. There are certain types of people who often are drawn to puppet ministry. Sometimes those who are shy find they can excel at puppetry because they’re able to be behind the curtain and where the crowd does not intimidate them.
Sometimes people who like music but can’t sing or play an instrument really excel at puppetry because they can have their puppets do the singing. Those who like drama and acting also can make really good puppet puppeteers.
Ideally, you want puppeteers who are dependable, enthusiastic, teachable, and willing to work hard. Every puppet team needs to have a well defined set of policies. The most important policy is the policy regarding attendance. You must have regular attendance at your practices. Personally, if you want to have a successful puppet team, the team needs to know what is expected.
I need to be put on paper and everything. Your team needs to understand your expectations.
Rehearsal is very important to putting on a great presentation. Each puppeteer needs to know the script and when their puppet is to appear.
If the puppet is singing along with music, puppeteers need to know the words and voices in the song to make their puppet respond accordingly.
If you are using prerecorded scripts, your puppeteers need to know the script so their puppet can “lip-sync” the words. It also helps to have printed scripts in front of the puppeteers when using pre-recorded scripts.
Puppetry is a great way to minister to all ages and a well-run puppet ministry can be a blessing to any church. If you need help starting a puppet ministry in your church, or training volunteers, we are available to come to your church and help.
Classroom, Library or Sunday School, puppets are a great tool for teaching and inspiring young minds.
If you want to put on great puppet shows for your Sunday School classes,library or classsroom, the first thing you’ll need to do is dispel a myth, that puppet shows are easy. They are a little more challenging than most people think! You need to be a little bit of a choreographer and a little bit of a director to make things go well, but practice can bring a great sense of accomplishment and joy over your newly discovered talents.
Our goal is to name challenges and present solutions so that your kids will watch with interest, will come to the think of the characters as their friends, and the shows will seem easy—both to you and your young audience. We’ll present some easy how-tos for the novice puppeteer who wants to make the puppets come alive. We’ll also provide some insights for those who have been puppeteers but might want to add some additional sparkle!
Simple Muppet style puppets grab a lot of interest, but you can also you hand puppets, other forms.
Notes for the novice
Putting on a puppet show sounds easy enough in concept: You simply put the puppets on your hands and recite the lines. You don’t even have to look at the audience if you have stage fright! While puppeteering is great for shy actors, it is not as easy as it seems! for your little characters to be believable and endearing and carry off a message, you have to take some measures and put in a little practice. Below are some suggestions that will prevent a puppet show from being a distraction and will help make it a real blessing.
Limit the people backstage to three. Puppet theatres, small or large, have very limited backstage areas. However, to keep children engaged, good puppet shows often require a number of characters to be on stage at once. While professionals can get by with one or possibly two people backstage, unless you have a massive puppet theatre, we suggest you limit backstage people to three. Puppet shows are generally written for three backstage puppeteers: one to handle the star, one to handle the narrator, and one to handle the various smaller parts. Occasionally, the puppeteer handing the star will also have a secondary puppet. Therefore a believable show requires a little “choreography of the hands” to prevent crowding.
Plan out your puppets’ exits and entrances. When there are more than two puppets on stage, puppets may have to cross over each other to get off stage again. This can be ironed out with practice and forethought, the same as entrances and exits would be on a stage featuring real actors. Kids will notice right away if puppets do something out of character like simply drop off the stage as if there were a hole in the floor. Your believability will fall through the floor with them! Hence, all exits and entrances should be considered part of the performance. If you have to cross over the other puppeteer’s arm, practicing will allow the puppet to make a real exit that isn’t distracting.
Some puppet theatres are so simple—say, a curtain with two poles—that puppets can’t really enter or exit. In this case, exits could be done by having them give the impression that they are walking down a flight of stairs to get off the stage.
Try to write or produce puppet shows so that characters have only a few crossovers. Those that enter last generally exit first, and so forth. However, for the few moments where puppets must cross, you’ll be working with an arm crossed around a fellow puppeteer. As long as you are both aware, it shouldrun smoothly.
Try to memorize scripts or if that isn’t possible, hide the evidence. The rattling of papers back stage can be very distracting—especially if a hand with a puppet drops off the staging area to turn the page! However, for classroom performances of an informal variety, memorization can be too much. One suggestion is to print your script out in the smallest typeface everyone can read and post lines with thumbtacks or scotch tape backstage, in places where they can be seen most easily by the puppeteer reciting the lines. If memorization is not realistic, at least knowing the lines that precede yours may work out well. If your puppet theater sits on a table, you can leave yourself some room on the table backstage to lay out lines.
Stay conscious of your hands. One way to surely remind your students that these puppets aren’t real friends is to have one “collapse on stage” as the saying goes. This means that the puppeteer has become fixated on either her other hand or on a challenge backstage; hence the puppet onstage either flops over or falls drastically out of character. Being a good puppeteer is a little like being a ventriloquist. We’ve all seen how the ventriloquist’s puppet will respond to everything the ventriloquist says as well as reciting his own lines. The best make it look so easy! With puppeteering, it can be both easy and fun, provided practice goes into it!
Some say the best way to learn to work your hands is to practice at the edge of a table first, where you can see the puppets moving. Especially if you are working two puppets at once, practice making one respond to the other while the other is talking. It’s more than just a matter of jiggling the one that is speaking. Responses come in many forms. First, try to get through a whole page using two different voices while eliciting two sets of actions. It’s fun, and practice will keep both puppets enchanting for those watching.
Know which hand holds your puppet, and keep it that way while practicing as well as performing. Understand stage left and stage right, the same as if you were in a stage performance: Stage left is often abbreviated SL, and it is the puppeteer’s left, not the audience’s left. Stage right is often SR, and it is the puppeteer’s right. Mark your script accordingly.
You can make it even easier than that. Have all the puppets enter and exit from stage right (SR) unless marked otherwise. Plan entrances and exits that are easy for the puppeteers with only a few cross-overs with another puppeteer. The stance of puppeteers should be as follows: • the puppeteer with the narrator on the left; • the puppeteer with the star in the middle; • the puppeteer with the other walk-on characters on the right. • If puppeteers are working two characters at once, they should practice crossing over for entrances and exits.
Practice various emotions that your puppets need to show. Remember that puppets have no facial expressions. Yet children can get so caught up in their situations that they don’t care. The magic comes with how you work the puppet’s little body, and as arms are usually worked by one hand only, good body movement takes a little practice. Here are some suggestions on showing emotions from a master puppeteer.
Arm rods can add a lot to making your puppets life-like. You can use one arm rod and move the arm on the side your free hand is. The arm can cause thehand to make gestures or raise props. Many puppeteers use rods on both arms of the puppet, manipulating both rods with one hand. other times, two puppeteers will handle rods, each manipulating one rod. Live arm puppets, where the puppeteer’s free arm becomes the hand of the puppet are also great and allow much more movement and action.
Stock photo of Puppeteer usingarm rods. Source: Getty
Surprise: Gasping, slapping hands to mouth, and straightening the body until puppet is very alert and erect.
Happy surprise: Jumping up and down and squealing.
Unhappy surprise: An erect, tense stance followed by a slouch. Hands can go over the heart.
Confusing surprise: Turning head from side to side and scratching head as if trying to figure matters out.
Fear: Jumping a few inches back, chewing a finger, turning head quickly from side to side, slapping the hands over the mouth, or pressing hands against the chest.
Trembling is best accomplished by the puppeteer shaking a rigid hand, not a limp one, or the puppet’s head will wobble.
Laughter: Throwing the head back and letting laughter rip; holding the
stomach while rocking forward and back with belly laughter.
Giggling: Place a hand over the mouth while rocking less dramatically.
Anger: Shaking fists, placing hands on hips (takes practice!), leaning
slightly forward in a menacing way; Stamping a foot can be faked with certain types of puppets by having the puppeteer stomp a foot backstage, and
having the puppet give a slight bounce.
Tears: Slouching forward with every “wah! Wah! Wah!” Rubbing tears
from the eyes, blowing nose into palms, covering the face and crying into an
arm.
Sadness: Shaking the head, slumping the head forward, arms down. Be a
little delicate in the way you handle sadness if the cause is a serious matter.
Throwing back his head and bawling so loud the other puppet holds his ears
is a way to use sadness with a little comedy.
12. Practice speaking in a voice not your own. Puppets often sound like the singing Chipmunks or the Munchkins in Wizard of Oz. However, they don’t need to have “little” voices. Many of the puppets on Sesame Street had booming voices. The trick with puppets is making the voices distinctive, especially when you are playing two parts at once! Practice making one voice very high and the other kind of raspy. Make one squeaky and one basso. Have fun with it. One of the joys of acting is bringing your own signature voice to the stage. It is not different with puppeteering. But once you get that voice and feel comfortable with a certain spirit arising from your puppet, practice keeping him or her in character throughout all lines.
13. Use Music properly. With so much available in music today, it is easy for puppet shows to include music and production numbers. However, we caution you to fade music in and fade music out with some practice runs. It can be very amateurish to simply push the “stop” button when the puppet is finished.
Have a Great Time While Practicing and Performing!
Of course , the most important thing about becoming a puppet master is keeping it fun! It is an art form that requires practice, much like dancing or playing an instrument.
Be willing to give puppeteering a whirl; don’t wait to be perfect—just be practiced! You will find that the rewards are great. You’ll use the occasion to be the actress you always wanted to be. You’ll discover coordination you didn’t know you had and voices from within that are fun to share.
Most importantly, you’ll be leaving children with new friends who help them believe new messages and values and character or whatever message you are sharing.
Notes for the Advanced or “Ambitious” Puppeteer
One of the joys of being a puppeteer is hearing little voices gasp or laugh or react to your creation. Advanced puppeteering means definitely infusing the little puppets with enough character that children will forget that he’s being worked by hands. There are many advanced tricks to keeping those puppets in character, and here are some examples:
One puppeteer worked alone and needed a third puppet to come on stage. She worked in a line where one puppet fell asleep on stage, and she worked her hand out of him and slipped on the third puppet. “Don’t be afraid to use your teeth backstage!” she says. “Puppeteers should think of themselves like one-man bands. If you need to, your feet, knees, elbows and mouths can all work like stagehands or musicians. I used to have one puppet keep talking while I was using my mouth to put on a third puppet!”
Other puppeteers have made music a part of their production by using a harmonica mouth holder, which is a metal bar that is curved and fits around the neck and leans the harmonica toward the mouth. These can be purchased in most music stores for around $10, and as some songs are simple, such as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” you may want to try it for fun!
One puppeteer used a sponge roller, a small piece of fabric to cover it, and some Velcro to give her puppet an accordion. She played the harmonica and the puppet appeared to be playing the song!
Another puppeteer hung spoons above his knees, and when needed, made “magic” sounds by running his knees along the row.
Ambitious puppeteers may want their puppets to carry things in their hands—but they’re aware of the limitations of tying up a puppet’s arms, which are so important to him. One option is to apply Velcro to the palms of the puppet. A water bottle, whistle, whip, popgun, etc. will stay there without him losing his ability to show emotions.
The best puppeteers are the best actors, and acting is where puppet shows go from good to great. The best puppeteers breathe the breath of life into a puppet by giving him a very dimensional persona, much like a screen actor becoming dimensional in his acting part. Once these personas are figured out and infused, your puppet shows will be memorable to kids long after the performance is over and perhaps for a lifetime!
I learned to make puppets from DVD and online tutorials. There are a lot of free tutorials online, and you can learn a lot from most of them. Since I take my puppet building seriously though, I am willing to invest in other learning materials. The tips and techniques I have learned from the various programs are worth more than the money spent. There are so many things that make your build go smoother and give you a better finished product. No one source has them all.
My favorite Puppet Building DVDs
By studying different builders and techniques, I have been able to develop my own style. I don’t want to make Barry Gordemer’s puppets or BJ Guyer’s puppets. I want to make unique puppets that help me develop my brand.
My favorite 7 Puppet Building Tutorials are:
“How To Build A Hand Puppet” by BJ Guyer. 3 DVDs, need to be purchased separately.
“The Foam Book DVD” by Drew Allison. This set really helped me when I was just starting to build puppets.
“Making Lifelike Puppets” by Noreen Young.
“Making Sculpted Puppets With Verna Finley.”
“Puppet Construction and Character Creation” by Barry Gordemer
Adam Kreutinger’s YouTube tutorials. Adam has shared a lot of information online.
BrunoKids Puppets sells a couple great puppet patterns that include instructional videos. A very unique puppet style.
I love BJ Guyer’s classes on puppet building. They are available on 3 DVDs and are very detailed.
The Foam Book DVD by Drew Allison is an incredible 2 DVD set. It covers everything you need to build a great rod arm puppet.
The DVD set is based on Drew’s book “The Foam Book.” I have both, but the DVD is far and away the best way to learn if you are a visual learner, like me.
Puppeteer Noreen Young
“Making Lifelike Puppets” by Noreen Young is a great DVD. It includes instructions for sculpting and casting latex puppets.
Ventriloquist Puppet by Verna Finley
“Making Sculpted Puppets With Verna Finley” is the best DVD set available on making soft sculpted puppets. Verna’s puppets are treasured by professional ventriloquists. Her soft-sculptured puppets are similar to Mary Ann Taylor’s puppets. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to find these DVDs. If anyone knows a source, please let me know.
Barry Gordemer
“Puppet Construction And Character Creation” by Barry Gordemer. This class, offered by Curious Mondo, is the newest of all the tutorials I have listed. Barry has some interesting ideas including a unique way of putting a thumb grip in a puppet. The class includes patterns.
BrunoKids Puppets sells a couple of great puppet patterns that include instructional videos. The puppet patterns are easy to build, but what really impresses me is the cartoon style eyes Brunokids makes out craft foam.
Adam Kreutinger has a wide variety of puppet building videos on YouTube. Beginners and pros will learn from Adam. Adam also sells patterns for many of his puppets as well as offering a few free patterns.
There are also a wide variety of books available on puppet building at your local library. Be sure to check them out.
What is a custom puppet? A custom puppet is a one of a kind puppet. It can mean a puppet builder makes for personal use or sale, a puppet of the builder’s choice. It can also mean a puppet specifically commissioned to have a certain look or style or specific features such as blinking eyes.
A custom puppet will cost you anywhere from $500 to 1500. The materials cost a builder $50 to $200 for foam, fleece and costuming. They require 20-100 hours of labor.
A custom puppet is not just foam and fabric. A custom puppet represents hours of intense hand labor.
Who wants a custom puppet? There are hundreds of different commercially made puppets on the market. You can find virtually any puppet you want, be it a red-haired girl, a talking book or a chicken. There are inexpensive, but well-made puppets like “Doug & Melissa” offer, great animal puppets like Folkmanis offer and many other choices. For $100, you can get a good puppet.
But you will not be the only person with that puppet.
Axtell Possum Puppet
Professional ventriloquists and puppeteers often want a custom puppet. They want a one of a kind character to keep their shows unique. One of my favorite puppets when performing ventriloquism is my Axtell Possum puppet, but it is not a custom puppet. Many ventriloquists have and use the same puppet. For most shows, this is not a real problem, after all, folks are not watching that many ventriloquists. But if I was to perform on a nationally televised show, I would not use my possum. I would use one of my unique, one of a kind builds.
ESPN portrait puppets by Chappell Puppets
Companies sometimes want a special puppet made to represent their business in commercials and advertisements. Sometimes folks want a puppet that looks like them, called a portrait puppet.
Other folks just want a cool puppet. You can find a lot of custom puppets for sale on eBay and Etsy. They often are shocked when seeing the price. I found one on Etsy for $7500. Ten times higher than the average custom puppet. But depending on what you need it for and the builder you hire, prices can vary significantly.
Sticker Shock when searching for custom made puppets
What goes into building a custom puppet?
Pattern: A puppet requires a pattern. Sometimes, my pattern is just an idea in my mind. But usually, it means having a pattern to make the puppet head, body, arms, hands, feet, hair and more. For special builds, a builder will need to make an original pattern. This means having a drawing, either supplied by the customer or drawn from the customer’s description. The drawing then has to be made into a model, using clay or foam. The model then has to be turned into a pattern and enlarged to actual size.
Sculpting: For some puppets, features like the nose or eyes may need to be sculpted in clay and then formed with a vacuform machine or the sculpt may be covered with fleece or fabric. Features may also be carved out of EVA foam.
Materials: Puppets require a variety of materials. Foam for the head and body, fabric to cover the puppet. Felt or other material for inside the mouth. Hair, which can be fur, feathers or fabric. Wood or plastic or other materials for the mouth plate. Fabric to line the inside of the puppet. Plus glue and other adhesives. Don’t forget eyes, nose, and other features. These are usually custom made.
Dying: If fleece or fur isn’t purchased already dyed, then the material will need to be dyed. Sometimes special colors are needed and this can take some trial and error to achieve.
Sewing: Fabric needs to be sewn. Even if a pattern is sewed with a machine, there is always lots of hand-sewing to do. Sewing is time-consuming and must be done with precision in order to hide seams and add strength. Ears, noses, and hair can be glued onto a puppet, but most builders will take the extra time to sew them on for added strength. I believe a puppet should be so constructed that it can be lifted by any part, the nose, the ear, a lip, and support itself. Let’s face it, if you are a performer, sooner or later some curious kid (or adult) is going to grab your puppet. A well-built puppet can handle a little abuse.
Wardrobe: Puppets usually need clothing, unless they are a furry monster or an object like a book or piece of fruit. Many times, baby clothes will do. Other times the clothes need to be designed, patterned and sewn. This can add considerable time and expense, but results in a truly original puppet.
Accessories: Functional accessories, like rod arms, blinking eyelids or moving eyes can make your puppet more life-like, as they add movement to the character. Other accessories like glasses, jewelry, or props add character and cost to your build.
What kind of puppet do you need? Before we can even consider the cost of a custom puppet, we need to know what we want. Do you want a person puppet, an animal, a talking object like a book or banana? Do you want a look-a-like puppet? Do you want a half body or a full body with legs?
Are you looking for a wooden ventriloquist puppet with moving eyes, wiggling ears, eyebrows that raise, eyelids that blink? You could be looking at spending $5000 or more.
Do you want a sock puppet with plastic googly eyes and a tuft of hair? $20 – $40 will probably do the trick.
Larry is one of the first puppets I sold.
In this article, I will focus primarily on the Muppet-style, foam arm and rod puppet. This has become a very popular style with ventriloquists and for television.
Materials to build a custom puppet are expensive. A good quality puppet will use good quality materials.
Antron fleece, the fleece used on Muppets and most top-notch puppets costs $40-65 per yard if purchased pre-dyed. It is half as much to buy white and dye your own, but then you add hours to the process. The average puppet will require about 2 yard of fleece. It only makes sense for the builder to dye his own fleece if he is dying large quantities or looking for a very specific color.
Polyester fleece can be used and will cut the cost considerably. Although the fabric store fleece looks good, often it is harder to hide seams when sewing the fabric. For this reason, most professional builders want Antron fleece.
If you want a live arm puppet, (a puppet where the operator’s arm becomes the puppet’s arm and hand), you will double the amount of material needed.
Reticulated foam is a light weight foam. It will cost about $50 for enough for a full body puppet. Polyfoam is a very inexpensive alternative but will make an excellent puppet.
In addition to the fleece and foam, there will be the cost of hair for the puppet. Hair can be inexpensive fur or can be an expensive wig. Costumes and accessories also add to the cost. If the clothing needs to be made for the puppet, that will push up costs. Sewing a costume takes time. Time is money.
Add to this all the little incidentals like eyes, arm rods, mouth plate materials, plus other building materials and the coat goes up.
The materials to build a custom puppet can range from $30 to several hundred dollars. A good quality soft puppet for ventriloquists will usually have a minimum of $100 in materials.
How long does it take to make one? A custom made puppet can take 40 or more hours to make, depending on the complexity of the build. Even at a modest $20/hour, that puts the value of the labor put into a custom puppet at $800 and up. If a builder is having to design a pattern and create a costume to meet a very specific design for a customer, 40 hours and even three times that is not unusual.
Most of my puppets I build are built from a pattern or just built up from my imagination. Since a specific design or look is not necessary, the time I put into a quality puppet build is about 20-40 hours. I have a few patterns that use painted foam, no fleece or fur covering, and I can make them in 10 hours or less.
Some puppet builders use the same pattern for all their puppets and they can “mass produce” their puppets, making several heads and bodies at once. They will then customize them indivdually when adding fabric, features and clothing. This can really cut building time.
Nutty Puppets has some amazing custom puppets. Each of their puppets is unique and one of a kind. If you check out the photos on their page though, it appears that they are only using one or two patterns. This makes for fast assembly. What makes their puppets unique is the color of fabric, the hair and the costumes and accessories. This allows them to build a puppet quickly and keep prices low.
Prices vary from builder to builder. The price of your custom puppet will also depend on the builder you choose. We all have different experience and different styles. Some will line the inside of the puppet head with fabric. This gives a more durable puppet, but adds to cost.
Others use more expensive materials for mouthplates, or arm rods or eyes. Different building styles also make builds go faster or take more time. Some puppet builders fabricate their own puppet accessories and mechanisms adding time, cost and quality to the build.
Two builders could build the same puppet and their prices could be several hundreds of dollars apart. If you actually saw the materials cost and watched everything that went into the build, you would likely see why the one would be more expensive.
Usually, the more expensive build is worth the extra cost, but depending on your needs, you may be just as happy with the lower cost puppet and still have an outstanding, quality puppet that will last many, many years.
Who owns a custom puppet’s design? If you have a puppet built, the design is still the builder’s property. You may draw the picture. It may be your original idea, but the builder owns the design and you cannot have it reproduced by someone else.
You may know, that when you have professional photographs taken, the photographer actually owns the picture, even if it is your family. You cannot reproduce the picture without compensating the photographer.
It is the same way with a custom puppet. You own the puppet. You can use it for performing and entertaining, but the builder still owns the design. It is his intellectual property.
I recommend you negotiate the ownership of the design with the builder before it is built. If the puppet will be used in shows, commercials or other public and commercial purposes, be sure you actually own the character. You will want to be free to use the puppet without needing to worry about intellectual property laws. You want to own the property.
If the puppet has a big future, I recommend you talk to a lawyer. You don’t want to get your first HBO special and find out you cannot sell T-Shirts with the puppet’s picture.
Where can I buy a custom puppet? Possum Woods Puppets makes and sells custom puppets. Possum Woods is my company and I often have a variety of puppets for sale. See our “Puppets For Sale” page for available puppets.
Other builders include:
Barry Gordemer is an outstanding puppet builder. You can see his work and contact him at: http://www.handemonium.com/
Steve Axtell has made puppets for Terry Fator and other professional ventriloquists. I have several of his puppets I use in my shows. Although I am making my own puppets now, he does have a few characters I would consider buying in the future. He also makes custom puppets and you can get information here: http://www.axtell.com/custom.html
Luna’s Puppets is a very good builder. They have a form on their site that allows you to design your puppet online, including a wide variety of options. They will build you the puppet you want. See their stuff at https://www.lunaspuppets.com/
Adam Kreutinger has made custom puppets for theater, films and commercials. He can be contacted at: http://www.adamkreutinger.com/
Drew Allison and Grey Seal Puppets create amazing puppets for stage and theater. Check them out at: https://www.greysealpuppets.com
