#making a muppet

My materials:

1/2 inch thick reticulated foam

thin foam sheets

contact adhesive (Gorilla Glue)

??-gauge wire (not an easily bendible gauge, but I can’t remember what size/density it is)

beige fleece fabric

blondish/gold long fur fabric

white resin

miscellaneous felts for mouth/features

miscellaneous cream/blue fabric for clothing

gold trim

white lace

threads etc for sewing

arm-poles (can be bought or made)

I made a template for my Stede design based on Puppetnerd’s videos and the samples on their websites. Stage one is tracing the template onto the reticulated foam and then gluing both halves of the head together.

You’re probably not meant to use pegs, but I was impatient and it looks very punk. The fabric for the head covering needs a different pattern since the fabric has to stretch around the head. The test-nose was made of leftover fabric pulled snug around a piece of foam that I’d cut to shape.

I made a booboo with the head pattern for the fabric and it’s why Stede’s mouth shows so much of the inside at the edges. I forgot to include the seam allowance.

I cast the eyes out of white resin, then sanded them down to give them a matt finish and also sanded the back so they could be glue in place

Then came adding on all the features, including Rhys’s mole, the ears and hair and such

Do not speak to me of that sdfgjksghdf wig made from fur fabric. I looked like a thousand cats had shed all over me. However, once it was groomed in place with some water and PVA, it looks better :)

Add some eyes and features and we have a muppety man :)

I learned the hard way that it’s easier to attach the body before adding the head, and yet still made the same mistake with my second muppet. Still, body - much like head - is a simple case of follow the template, cut the foam, stick the two halves together, then put the ‘skin’ over it. No pictures of that, but behold muppety arms :D

I made little wire bones for the hands to make them poseable, then padded them out with foam and filler and attached them to the body.

Once the arms were on, the clothing began :D I eyeballed it and made patterns around the shape/size of the muppet. Won’t go into details of the experimentation that happened, but in the end, I was victorious :) One shirt, one waistcoat and one overcoat, all removable.

And then I made him a friend.