From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Mathieu_Ren=E9?= <creaturiste-AT-primus.ca> To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org> Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 23:05:44 -0500 Subject: [Puptcrit] TECH: Sock puppet cousins Hi all. I'm still experimenting with sock puppets when I have a minute. This sort of easy to build contraption does not mean one has to be cheap about it, we can make awesome-looking-awesomely-practical puppets with the proper base to start from. As mentionned in recent posts, I like adding a mouthpalte inside the sock (a straight slit is cut, mouthplate inserted, and the fabric is pulled over the edges of the mouthplate and glued, a bit at a time, with hot glue (high temp only). I also sometimes add a partial skull shape made of carved styrofoam. When lazy or pressed by time, one could just buy styrofoam shapes in craft stores, and cut them in symmetrical shapes. A recent trip to the dollar store gave me a few other ideas for "raw" materials. Socks (any lenght, stretchy or not, any color) aren't the only thing one can use to make "sock puppet" type puppets. I've been looking at alternatives, to have more possibilities in case of not finding proper socks, and also for the fun of variety. Forms appearing in our hands while we work can teach us so many unexpected things! A simple Tuque (simple tight fitting winter hat, common in Canada) does a great job for a wider fatter puppet. The skull of the creature is a good size for a "mupet type". I added a partial skull into the head, made from a 2 inch styrofoam carved into a cone. I just made one puppet with a tuque tonight. it's a freaky red-eyed thing, reminiscent of a messed-up evil kermit with inflated cranium. It's still wearable as a tuque, although very silly looking, but I,ll keep it as a puppet. If worn on the head and the extra fabric of the tuque is pulled over the puppeteer's face, the whole puppet head becomes a "displaced mask", changing the performer's proportions freakily! I found a long tube scarf that sold with matching gloves and tuque. This kind of knit scraf is amazing for making puppets, very versatile, as it expands in lenght or width, one sacrificing material for the other. Meaning it fit a variety of forms very smoothly! A soft-soled slipper can make a nearly instant puppet, if it can be folded in half without strain on the hand. Add fabric to complete the head (perhaps a large sock or a tube scarf), and you're in business! Gloves can be modified to become mouth puppets too. I have yet to experiment with this, but eventually I will. There was an old fun trick with glioves I learned from other kids back in elementary school. Folding the gloves in a special way turned it into the cutest little puppet! Works best with the cheap "magic gloves", usually around 1$ in drugstores. They are one-size-fits-all, super stretchy. Too bad they are so short of wrist! I wonder if the same material is made into longer gloves? I'm going to look for interesting sweater and shirt sleeves to use as "better" socks to make puppets with. They are bound to offer more lenght and width, while the rest of the sweater can provide extra fabric to complete the puppet. A set of two identical or matching puppets could easily be made with a single sweater. _______________________________________________ List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit Archives: http://www.driftline.org
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