Making Ellie: Two Ears And A Nose

Let's bring this puppet to life. It's time to create Ellie!  

Before building any of the features, I first had to insert a plug to have more control over the motion of the mouth. Adam suggested a 1-inch piece of foam for the plug. I only had 1/2" pieces, so I glued two together. With a little spray adhesive, I covered it with an old shirt so that the foam held up better.

To keep the foam in place, I had to fill the head with stuffing. If there was one thing I had an abundance of in this house it was stuffing, mainly coming out of Bradley's doggy toys. As I gathered the fluff, Bradley looked at me in horror. I was taking apart his friend. I decided against the dog toy fluff and instead, I found an old pillow I made from fabric scraps my freshman year of college.

The head looked fuller and more puppet like. Once I was happy with the feel of the mouth movement, I glued the seam with contact cement and was ready to get started on the facial features! 

Once fully dry it was time to put the fleece pattern on the head-again. Because the head was over stuffed, I could barely get it on. I had to take out some stuffing to sew up the back. 

I was excited to get started on the nose. Everyone knows a puppet nose can make or break a puppet. I used foam to shape the style of the nose I wanted. I had previously made a foam nose from a pattern Adam had on his website but it was too large for this puppet. 

I ended up making two noses to see what fit the puppet's face the best. I opted for the smaller one. Placing the nose first, makes setting the ears and eyes easier. 

Once I finished the nose, It was time to cut the template for the ears. I'm not sure why, but I really enjoyed making the ears. You need two pieces of fleece and one piece of foam per each ear. A quick trip through the sewing machine and the ears were done! They are not perfect, nor are they symmetrical but I think it makes the puppet sweeter because of it. 

With a few pins, I placed the nose and ears on the puppet and positioned them where I wanted them. I did a ladder stitch to attach them to the fleece. This was the moment where Ellie was looking more like a puppet! 

Next I'll be taking you through the process of how I made Ellie's eyes out of plastic spoons! 

Check out Adam Kreutinger's YouTube videos to learn more on how to make puppets. I couldn't have gotten this far without them.

If you make your own puppet, send us an email at abbylpower@gmail.com or tag us on Facebook or Instagram at @thesolutionaryschool. We'd love to see your creations!