Beginning Materials

[DocDetroit]

Greetings all!

I have been reading a lot on your site and have loved all the tips you have given.  I am currently about to work on building a couple of puppets for a show that I am a part of.  I am wondering about the materials.  I know that the preferred foam is reticulated and the fabric is Antron Fleece.  However, I do not have that readily available to me unless I purchase some from the listed sites.  I would hate to purchase the material only to find that I need more practice.  I want to make sure I can walk before I run.  I guess I am wondering, does polar fleece and polyfoam from Joanne's and other like craft stores work well enough to produce some nice puppets while getting the practice, or should I invest now in the higher end material?

Thanks for your input!

DocDetroit

[Puppets And Stuff]

My answer would be yes!  I've never used reticulated foam or Antron on a performance puppet.   While I do feel that quality materials can make a difference in this instance I do not follow the rest of the pack.  Polar fleece and regular poly do not always last as long but they work just as well.  I tend to be a bit of a rebel.

[gspuppets]

I'm with Shawn.  In fact, I'd go as far as to say that unless you're building a puppet for television work, you really don't need the Antron fleece.  While Antron fleece is great for hiding seams, it is difficult to dye and more specifically, difficult to keep colorfast.  But polar fleece is widely available in a range of colors, is stretchy, and has a little nap.  We love polar fleece and we use it a lot.

Regarding reticulated foam vs. polyfoam-- well, it's pretty well documented that we love polyfoam around here.  You can dye it, paint it, chalk it, it's cheap, it's widely available, it's versatile... you get the picture.  We do use reticulated foam in certain applications (mainly when we're building mascot characters) but for puppet building we prefer polyfoam.

I'm probably gonna get jumped on by a bunch of Antron and reticulated foam- lovers, but there it is.