Dewey Street: October 2012

My craft room is stuffed to the gills with fake furs, foam, and fabric. I have been making puppets for a little over two years now and it is a totally nerdy hobby. I avoid telling people about it because I am usually labeled as the crazy puppet lady. Most people think of scary marionettes that come to life at night. Don't worry. Mine skew more towards the Muppet end of puppets.

I have always loved puppets. It didn't dawn on me until a couple years back that I could actually make them. I needed a craft project to bring on a weekend retreat. My mom and sister go annually on a quilting retreat and it always sounded so fun. A weekend of sewing, food and gossip. Sounds great! But, one problem. I am too spastic to quilt. I can't follow patterns because I would rather just "figure it out." So, instead of staying home and moping about my lack of quilting skills, I researched ways to make puppets. I was all set and joined the next quilting retreat.

I was a little nervous showing up with foam, old tee-shirts, ping pong balls, and a tool kit. But, the ladies were very interested and embracing. I have gone back every year since.

Fast-forward to present day puppet land, I have been trying a bunch of different methods to make different characters. My latest one has a new body shape.

The fur is just tacked on with pins for now.

I gave him a little buddha belly.

He also is going to have a new head shape. Really tall and cone-like.

So there is a sneak peak of what is going on in my crafty world. The skeleton of the puppets are made of foam, and are "skinned" with fleece or fur. With my new one, I am going to use a combo. His body is going to be fur and his head, arms, and legs are going to be fleece. Stay tuned for the progress.

Here are some of the other characters I have made.