Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2008 11:01:23 -0500 From: Mary Horsley <mphorsley-AT-earthlink.net> To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] TECH: Sock puppet cousins Pictures, Mathieu, send pictures to your site! Mary Horsley On 1/18/08 11:05 PM, "Mathieu René" <creaturiste-AT-primus.ca> wrote: > 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 _______________________________________________ List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit Archives: http://www.driftline.org
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