Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Felt Zoo Animal Puppets

I've put together a tutorial for these felt zoo animal hand puppets below. You can also purchase my handmade zoo animal, barnyard/farm and bird felt finger puppets from my shop.

Zoo animal puppets. Front view.
Zoo animal puppets. Back view.For my twin nephew's 3rd birthday, I wanted to make them each a set of puppets after seeing this Old MacDonald Puppet Tutorial & Pattern from Just Another Day In Paradise.

Here are the set of farm animals I made for Ben:

Farm animal puppets. Front view.
For Adam, I wanted to make a set of zoo animal puppets. Using the existing
Old MacDonald Puppet Tutorial & Pattern as a starting point, I've added/modified some pieces to make the zoo animals I wanted.

Here are the zoo animal
patterns:




















































Notes on a few animals:

Moose puppet









The Canadian Moose
except for the antlers, much of it is adapted from The Horse patternGiraffe puppet









The Giraffe
The mane and face are adapted from The Horse patternThe tail is from The Cow's tail pattern
Spots are randomly cut, using The Cow's spot pattern as a guide


The lion has a full, curly mane.









The Lion
The mane is from The Horse hair pattern
On the front, hand sew the ears and mane in place


Each curl of the lions mane is sewn on individually









On the back, hand sew the lion's mane, leaving 1/4 inch space around the head


Loose mane on the outer edge is tacked inwards.









Before sewing the puppet together, I "tacked" the outer mane towards the center. You could use pins, but I find it's too "bulky".


Lion puppet









Once sewn together, cover up any "bald spots" by hand sewing on more mane.Kangaroo mother and joey hand puppets









The Kangaroos

The adult kangaroo's face is a combination of The Horse and The Cat patternZebra puppet









The Zebra
Identical to The Horse PatternStripes are cut free hand, using The Cat's stripes pattern as reference


Zoo keeper puppet.









The Zoo Keeper and The Snake
The collar is made by cutting a small slit down the middle of The Farmer's shirt pattern, fold down, and sewn into place

The felt is too delicate for the snake's tongue. I used a piece of ribbon I already had on hand.

Don't forget, you can also purchase my handmade zoo animal, barnyard/farm and bird felt finger puppets from my shop. I also sell a few felt finger puppet patterns.