How to Sew a Puppet
Puppets do more than entertain children; they are a useful teaching tool for elementary school classrooms. Puppets help keep children interested what they are learning. Plus, when given to the children, the puppets help them develop creativity and dexterity skills. Sewing a simple puppet requires a few specialized stitches, and it can be done by hand. Start with a sock as the base for the puppet, and sew the facial features and any accessories that give the puppet character.
Things You'll Need
- Adult socks
- Felt
- Chalk pencil
- Scissors
- Straight pins
- Sewing needle
- Thread
Instructions
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1
Look at the sock and determine the type of puppet you want to create. Create a female or male puppet, an animal puppet, an imaginary monster or fanciful beast.
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2
Lay a piece of felt down on a flat surface. Use the chalk pencil to sketch out any facial features you’ll need for your desired puppet. For example, for a rabbit puppet, you may want to sketch out two long ears, a triangular nose, two rectangular “buck” teeth and large ovals for eyes.
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3
Cut out the features using the scissors.
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4
Pin the features onto the sock, arranging the face on the toe of the sock, and the ears on the foot of the sock. Carefully place your hand inside the sock to test the placement, and rearrange as desired.
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5
Thread the sewing needle with a length of thread approximately twice as long as your arm. Tie a knot in one end of the thread.
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6
Whip stitch the pinned features into place by holding the feature and sock together with your fingers. You can remove the pin at this point, if desired. Push the needle through the felt and sock. Loop the needle back over to where you started, and then push through the felt and sock again, just next to the last stitch. Continue sewing the pieces together using small, close-together whip stitches.
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7
Remove the pin, if you haven’t already. Knot the last stitch and clip the excess thread.
Sew the remaining features onto the sock puppet using the whip stitch.
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Tips & Warnings
To sew together a professional-looking “Muppet”-style puppet, carve the puppet’s head and main facial features into a piece of soft, dense foam. Carve arms and hands from foam. Then cover with a “skin” of fabric sewn together with small, even whip stitches. Attach the head and arms to a sock-puppet-style body.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
