This is part 4 of a video series about how I build my custom puppets. It is not meant to be a tutorial or for beginners. I don’t go into a lot of details, just outlining how I currently build most of my puppets. This series is meant to be an overview of how much supplies, tools and time it takes to build a “Muppet-y” style puppet. I’m also sharing what I’ve learned in the hopes of helping out fellow puppet builders.

I love building puppets. I build my puppets as a hobby and on a tight budget.

How to Make Hands to Hold Things

A Word About Wire

Project Puppet has a free hand pattern that works great for the shape. I don’t care for the cardboard palms with wire. My first hand had the fingers break off from the cardboard after a bit of use. Instead I make the entire “skeleton” of the hand out of 12 gauge wire. It’s a bit time consuming, but year old hands still flex and grip with no problems.

I found my wire at a local 99 cent store. It is much cheaper than buying from Ace Hardware.

Once the wire form is made, I sandwich it between 2 foam hand shapes and glue the foam together with contact cement. Viola! You now have hands that will flex and grip.

Part 5 covers How to Sew the Arms and Hands