Make a Sock Puppet

Making a sock puppet is really quite fun. What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens and computers are great possibilities.

Start by assembling your special materials in a large shoe box with your name on it. You'll need at least one clean sock of your choice, a large needle and some strong, thick thread. This is just the bare minimum. Of course you can add any other decorating items you want to use to embellish an decorate your sock puppet, making it more original, like glasses, jewelry, special hair material, etc... Your teacher will have some decorating materials on hand in class, (assorted buttons and beads, wool, pipe cleaners, felt material, ...) as well as all the rest of the items required to make your puppet like scissors and glue guns.

Steps

Method One: Quick and Simple

  1. Find an old, clean sock. It can be any color you like, and it should be long enough for you to stick your arm in. Preferably the sock should almost reach the elbow. *Avoid socks that are too thin or that have holes. Any material will work just fine but if you plan on busting out the scissors, you may want to use a material that won't automatically fray (like cotton). Of course, the type of character the sock puppet has is, in part, determined by the sock chosen. For example, spotted socks suggest creating leopards, cheetahs, Dalmatian dogs, etc., while striped socks suggest creating zebras, tigers and jailbirds. Plain socks could be a wide range of things but the color can help, so a white sock could be a white mouse, while a gray sock might be an elephant. When choosing the sock, let the sock's feature be a part of what decides your sock puppet's final character.
  2. Glue (using a Glue Gun and hot melt glue), or sew the googly eye or eyes, (the number, size and colour are your choice), either to the bottom of the sock, at the toe end, or pretty much wherever you'd like. Experiment with a few placements before you glue them on. The eyes might look good really close together, close to the nose, or somewhere you might not expect. This is your puppet so your body parts are yours to create and position as you please. However, make sure you get adult supervision if unsure how to do this! Superglue can be trouble, as can a needle so don't be afraid to ask for help. You can also draw on the eyes with a marker.
  3. Once the glue is dry, stick your hand in. Form your hand into the shape of a mouth, with your thumb below your fingers. Use your free hand to force an indentation mirroring the inside of the mouth. Your arm should look like a snake.
  4. Now what about the rest of the basics? For the tongue, you can either use a smaller oval in a different color to simulate a tongue, or use an actual tongue shape that hangs out. In fact, a felt tongue can be made and cut with a "v" at the end like a snake's tongue.
    • You can also make a nose using felt. Cut a small triangle or circle to form a cute little nose. Either sew or glue it into place above the mouth. If you've added whiskers, keep these below the nose.
    • Also, if you'd like this sock puppet to have whiskers, cut whisker length pieces of string or cord. Sew into place at the top center of the mouth. Just make sure it doesn't look like a mustache or... Maybe you'd like your puppet to have a mustache? Why not?
  5. The same string can be used for hair. Consider a pile of string for hair, (puppets are not the most well-manicured of characters), or more pieces of felt for spikes (if glued upright), or scales. Wow, this is fun! Does it have ears? These could easily be but out of felt and sewn on wherever you want them to be.
  6. For arms, simply roll up a length of felt with a pipe cleaner inside. The pipe cleaner will make your puppet able to pose. Glue the roll closed, with one end attached to the puppet.
    • To make fingers, simply make two cuts into the end of the roll of felt. Two cuts will result in three fingers. The two cuts should force the end of the roll to splay out, resembling a hand. Round off the edges as you'd like, sculpting the fingers.
  7. Finally, add on the extras! Your puppet could have everything down to eyelashes, hoop earrings, bow ties, hair ribbons... It's really all up to you! You can even dress it up. If you like making clothes, give the sock puppet a few too.

Tips

  • If you don't like animals, you could make a person too!
  • You could make a beard or a mustache out of wool to add on.
  • You could take barbie doll earrings and stick them on.

Warnings

  • Supervise children if they are stitching a sock puppet on their own. Young children with little or no sewing experience will definitely need full attention and help from an older, more experienced person.

Things You'll Need

  • A clean, long sock
  • Needle and thread
  • Googly or pom pom eyes
  • Felt
  • Glue gun or glue
  • Scissors
  • Embellishments such as yarn, ribbon, etc. (optional)

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

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