Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (2025)

I couldn't wait and got on a bit of a roll last night. I made 3 heads in quick succession to just get a feel for how different sizes, patterns, and sewing techniques influence the final product. As expected, none of them looked like Kermit but I learned so much. I have watched every YouTube video by Adam Kreutinger, Swazzle Productions, Adam Savage's Muppet/puppet related videos, and so many others but until I got my hands in, I didn't realize how much a little tweak can make such a difference to the end product.

ECL did recommend making the body before the head due to the body's influence on the shape of the final product but I will hold off on that until I get to the close enough phase. This is just about tests and getting a feel for things.

Let's focus on build #1, which was ECL's original pattern using a 9" circle as a test. I do want to flag that ECL did suggest an 8 1/2" circle, but I've got long fingers, and figured I'd start big. This was a mistake Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (1). Just to clarify, the original pattern is mostly a circle that has a wedge cut out of it, the diameter of that circle is what I'm referring to when talking measurements. For these early tests, I'm just using cheap, basic anti-pill fleece from the fabric store. I'll also be using cardboard from Amazon boxes, cheap flimsy felt, red flocked fabric, hot glue, and basic green thread. These tests are just about making as many versions as possible for as little money as possible.

First step was printing the pattern, cutting it out, and then tracing it on to the fleece. I cut off a more manageable piece of fleece to work with. The fleece below is folded in half and doubled up so that I could cut both pieces at once. I also did wrong sides out so that the tracing lines wouldn't be visible when the puppet is assembled. I used a green sharpie for marking the fabric. Not sure why the 2 photos have such drastically different colors, but the real color is somewhere in the middle of these 2.

Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (2)

Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (3)

Next I pinned the two layers of fleece together and started cutting. Fleece will stretch and shift just by breathing on it the wrong way, so pinning is definitely the way to go! I tried cutting with a rotary cutter and that didn't work out very well, so I recommend sharp scissors for this. I'm using some super heavy duty 11" shop shears from Harbor Freight and they're doing a great job so far. After cutting, but before removing the pins, I used some small clamps to hold the pieces together.

Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (4)

Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (5)

I sewed the top head/neck and bottom jaw/neck. I think I used about a 6-7 foot long piece of thread that I doubled over, in standard sewing practice, for each side. You want to leave the mouth (the wedge shape) and the neck hole open and un-sewn. I just did a quick whip stitch by hand. I'm not worried about seams or longevity at this point. I don't have a sewing machine but that's fine because a lot of puppet sewing is supposed to be done by hand so that you can use specific stitches to hide the seams (I'll go into more detail when we eventually get to the good fleece). If you do have a sewing machine and choose to use it, you will want to sew directly on the pattern line. There is usually no seam allowance in most puppet patterns.

Next I cut out the mouth plate from cardboard. The mouth plate is then cut in half and a piece of gaff tape is put on the front and one on the back to help make a hinge. You want to leave about a 1/3 to 1/2 inch of space between the pieces so that the hinge can work well. Cut off the excess tape from the sides. I'd recommend The Creature Works Studio's video "Puppet Building Episode 4" on this to help make sense of it, if needed.

Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (6)

Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (7)

Originally, I was just going to leave the plain cardboard but I decided to go ahead and finish up the inside of the mouth with some red/black/pink felts that I just hot glued to the cardboard. This pic is from build #2 as I forgot to take one from build #1

Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (8)

The next step was hard to take pics of, so apologies for that. I'll figure out a way to do it in one of the future tests. I had to secure the head to the mouth plate. I just used hot glue on the edge of 1 quadrant of the mouth at a time. A bead of hot glue goes down on the outer edge of the red felt and the inside of the fleece is put down on top of that. You want green fabric to be bordering the inside of the mouth. Here is a pic of the end result. And no, it's not supposed to look this sloppy... Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (9)

Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (10)

Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (11)

Now it was time to put it on my hand. Turns out 9" is WAY too big. Like, it might even be too big for Andre the Giant's hands. Don't do 9".

Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (12)

Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (13)

Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (14)

Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (15)

That about wraps up test build #1. Lessons learned:
1) The original pattern had way too much extra fabric around the mouth. Kermit is supposed to have some excess fabric folding in the corners of his mouth, but not this much.
2) The neck is a little too bulky.
3) The top of the head is a little too bulky for the proper proportions.
4) Don't go big. If somebody is a master at their craft and they tell you something, just listen to them.
5) Hand sewing is much more calming and therapeutic than I would have thought. It was nice just getting lost in the rhythm of it.
6) Even on the cool setting, hot glue is evil.
7) Pin, clamp, do whatever it takes to prevent the fabric from slipping around.
8) Buying cheap supplies in bulk is still expensive.

Kermit the Frog here! V2 finished. v1 and v2 patterns posted! (2025)
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