Tips from the Weird Kid — Puppet

While upholstery foam is great for sofas, chairs and headboards, it's my opinion that it should NEVER be used for mascots and puppets. The main issue I have with using this foam for building mascots and puppets is that it's an opened cell foam product. Opened cell basically means that it easily absorbs moisture, for example from breathing or perspiration. That can become problematic and unpleasant, especially if more than one person has to wear the costume or use the puppet. In addition, trapped moisture is a perfect breeding ground for all sorts of fungus and bacteria. Closed cell foam...

Burfab or Veltrex is a great fabric to use when you want something to have a smooth almost suede-like finish.  I also think it looks a lot like flocking (but much less dangerous to work with). The only down side of Burfab is that it's next to impossible to hide your seams.  I recommend trying to place your seams in spots that will later be hidden by something else going on your mascot/puppet (e.g. under the arms of glasses or moustache), or in a more natural spot like a laugh line or forehead brow line. Once you have the Burfab...