What materials do you use for sock puppets?

As mentioned in my short post about what materials to use when making a puppet, there’s no hard and fast rules as to what to use when building a puppet. However, sock puppets are pretty basic when it comes to materials.

Obviously, most sock puppets use socks for the basis of the neck and head. For the mouth, many people use a paper or cardboard plate, or felt, folded over in half; for a sturdier mouth some people choose to create something that uses a bit more of the muppet-type puppet technique, with felt, foam, or thick matboard. Glue is usually used to attach the two pieces together. However, it’s not even necessary to make this cut-and-paste mouth plate. My tutorial [link to be added] shows you how to make a sock puppet by using a non-slip sock; the sock has a thin rubber sole which is ideal for a puppet’s mouth. Some puppet makers even use nylon stockings, which can be stretched and stuffed in a variety of ways. You don’t even have to use a sock: a sleeve attached to a mouth plate works just as well.

This is the basis for the puppet… the rest is just accessories.

You can add eyes, noses, and other facial features - you can even add on arms. (The well-known character, Lambchop, is pretty much a sock puppet with arms. The only difference is the arms have rods attached. One could consider it a cross between a muppet-type puppet and a sock puppet)

As for materials for decoration, facial features, accessories, and so on, materials vary. Anything and everything goes: you can use thick cotton thread to create eyes, or glue circles of felt on, use sequins, feathers, buttons… whatever you have, you can use! Puppet eyes and noses are discussed in more detail here [link to be added].

Learn how to make one of these puppets here [link to be added] or use any one of these other free patterns.