Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 49

Glue the puppet's nose on with Barge cement, and it's done!

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 48

Lady Fromage's whiskers are made from sturdy white thread. To attach them, simply stick a threaded needle all the way through the puppet's muzzle. Cut the whisker to the right length, and dab a bit of glue at the base to keep them secure.

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 47

Lady Fromage's eye lashes are snipped from black fun foam.

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 46

Using a mixture of liquid latex rubber and latex paint, paint the puppet's nose. The liquid latex rubber will preserve the foam and keep the nose from getting crunchy over time.

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 45

Now the last final touches are being added to the puppet. Lady Fromage's nose is made from a quarter inch foam. Trace the pattern onto the foam, and cut the shape out with a blade. Dab a light coat of contact cement on to the edges of the nose, and pinch them together.

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 44

Using a simple whip stitch and sturdy thread sew the puppet's ears on.

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 43

Wrap the felt around the armature wire and glue it in place. Use small scissors to snip off the extra felt.

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 42

Now it's time to make the puppet's ears. Many different materials can be used to make ears for a puppet like this: fun foam, felt etc. - I'm using felt. To get the ears to stand upright, glue in armature wire bent to the size of the ear. This will not only give the ears rigidity, but it will make them posable.

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 41

Once you have found the proper placement for the puppet's eyes secure them in place. I'm using beads for Lady Fromage's eyes so they are stitched in place. Eyes can also be glued in place with hot glue, or pinned in so you can reposition them.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 40

The puppet is really coming along now. Because this blog isn't really focused on costumes, I didn't document that part of the process. I'm sure there are plenty of great blogs and web sites dedicated to costume design and creation - so check them out for more information. I've attached the felt hands to the nylon arm string, now it's time to add the facial features.

Lady Fromage's eyes are made from black beads. Before you glue the eyes in place, check the placement with pins. Once you have the placement, glue them in place with a dab of hot glue.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 39

Lady Fromage's hands are cut from quarter inch foam, and covered with white felt.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 37

Slip the puppet's foam body over the PVC pipe rod. Cut away enough foam from the top of the body to ensure that the string hole is clear.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 36

Drill a small hole about a half an inch down from the top of the PVC rod. Drill a second hole about an inch and a half from the finger trigger.

Sew a piece of sturdy fishing line to the puppet's bottom jaw. Thread the fishing line through the first hole, into the pipe, and out the second hole.

Using Barge Cement glue a piece of felt around the metal finger trigger.

Sew the fishing line to end of the finger trigger - the line should be taught when the finger trigger is horizontal. When you pull down on the trigger with your finger, the puppet's mouth will open, when you release, the puppet's mouth will spring closed.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 35

Using a clamp and pliers bend a length of piano wire into a rectangle. The two ends of the piano wire should come together at one of the narrow sides of the rectangle. Drill two holes on either side of the PVC pipe just below the thumb control. Insert the piano wire into the holes. This will become the finger trigger to control the puppet's mouth.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 30

Cut a short length of wooden dowel. The dowel should be wide enough to fit inside the pvc pipe control. Drill a small hole through the center of the dowel. This will be a collar that will keep the puppet's head rod centered in the handle.

lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 28

Measure between five to six inches from the bottom of the PVC pipe and make a mark.

Using a fine toothed saw make a cut about half way through the pipe. Don't make the cut too deep, or the control will loose strength and break.

Measure about a quarter of an inch from the first cut. Use the saw to make a second parallel cut the same depth.

Using a utility knife carefully cut between the two incisions, and remove the quarter inch piece of plastic.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 26

Using Barge cement, glue the foam body leaves together. Once the bell shaped lower body and torso are constructed, glue them together. This will form the structure of the puppet's body.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 25

Lady Fromage will be wearing a formal gown that has a bell shape. I'm using five flattened triangles to achieve that shape.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 23

Lady Fromage's body will also be made from foam. Because she is such a small puppet, I'm using quarter inch foam. Just like the head, begin by planning your shapes out on paper. Create patterns of the desired foam shapes, and cut them out using a sharp blade. I find it helpful to put a small dot at the top of each shape, to insure that they are glued together the right way.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 21

Cut the white fleece for the puppet's bottom jaw and muzzle. It should be just large enough to cover the desired area, and lay flat next to the gray fleece.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 22

Now fabrication of the puppet's head can begin. I will be using Antron Fleece (commonly known as “Muppet Fleece”), to cover the puppet's head.

Begin fabrication by draping your fabric over the puppet's head. Stretch it around to get as much coverage as possible, and pin it in place. Because the head is round, darts will need to be cut to achieve the proper shape. Gather the excess fabric evenly on both sides of the puppet's head.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 21

Using Barge Cement, glue the back of the puppet's head closed.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 20

Using batting, stuff the inside of the puppet’s head. This will help keep the gasket rubber and music wire in place. It will also help the puppet’s head keep its shape. Be careful not to over stuff the head, or stuff it unevenly.

Using batting, stuff the inside of the puppet's head. This will help keep the gasket rubber and music wire in place. It will also help the puppet's head keep its shape. Be careful not to over stuff the head, or stuff it unevenly.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 19

Insert the gasket rubber into the puppet's head.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 18

Cut a piece of wood dowel that is about half an inch in length. Drill a hole through the center of the dowel that is just wide enough to accommodate the piano wire. Insert the piano wire into the hole. Slide the dowel down until it is flush with the gasket rubber. Glue the dowel in place with hot Glue. The dowel will help keep the piano wire in the puppet's head stable and centered.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 11

Using a a blade drill a small hole in the puppet's top jaw.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 10

Thread the elastic through the hole in the puppet's mouth and tie a knot at the end. Make sure the knot is large and secure enough to keep the elastic from slipping through the hole.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 9

Use a thin drill bit or a blade to make a small hole in the puppet’s bottom jaw.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 7

I'm using gasket rubber to make Lady Fromage's mouth pallet. Gasket Rubber is a good material for puppet mouths because it's light weight, strong and fairly flexible. You can find gasket rubber at your local auto supply store.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 6

Using the same technique as the top jaw, I've constructed the puppet's bottom jaw. Like the top jaw, it was made from two triangles of foam glued together in the middle. For this puppet the bottom is just slightly smaller than the top jaw.

Once the top and bottom jaws are constructed they are ready to be attached to the puppet's head.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 1

No matter what type of puppet I'm making, big or small, hand puppet or rod puppet, I always start by sketching out the basic shapes.

Because there is always some translation involved when turning a flat drawing into a three demential puppet, it's important to really understand the under-structure.

Lady Fromage is fairly straight forward. Her head is a ball, her nose is flat cone, and her bottom jaw is a triangle.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Introduction

Like other puppeteers, I learned (and continue to learn) many of my building techniques from watching puppet shows, attending festivals, and picking the brains of other puppeteers and puppet builders. I first learned how to make a rod control puppet from reading Nick Barone's instructions in a Puppeteers of America Festival Handbook a couple of years back. Since then, I've I picked up more tips from Roger Mara and Hobby Ford, and I've added my own modifications and adaptations. I hope you all do the same - take what I show you, and make it your own.

Most of the puppets we use in our Swazzle puppet shows are hand and rod puppets. Sometimes we will need a puppet that is very large like the Tyrannosaurs Rex in Harry and the Tyrannosaurs Rex, other times we need a puppet that is very small like Lady Fromage in Rex and Boots Super Sleuths - Both are rod puppets.

Lady Fromage stands just over six inches tall. Her simple one handed rod control allows her to move her head left and right, and open and close her mouth. This tutorial will take you step by step through the creation of Lady Fromage. As always if you have any questions or require more clarification please write me at sean@swazzle.com.

Rex and Boots

Anita and I have already performed Rex and Boots for over two weeks, and the show has been very well received. It is always exciting to see how the show changes, grows and evolves during the course of a tour. I hope you all will get a chance to see it.