The Tucson
Puppet Lady
PDF Pattern and Instructions
Squirrel Felt Hand Puppet Pattern
©2019 The Tucson Puppet Lady
Squirrel Felt Hand Puppet Pattern & Instructions PDF
All Rights Reserved. Instructions, photos and patterns copyrighted by The Tucson Puppet
Lady.
Squirrel Felt Hand Puppet Pattern & Instructions PDF is a FREE pattern available at our
website.
www.TheTucsonPuppetLady.com
Material List for Squirrel
- Felt
• one 9” by 12” black felt sheet or scraps
• one 9” by 12” dark brown felt sheet or scraps
• one 9” by 12” white felt sheet or scraps
• one 9” by 12” antique white felt sheet
• two 9” by 12” tan felt sheets
Tool List
- Scissors
- Pins
- Washable Crayons
- Glue (Hot glue, Fabric Tac or any glue that works with felt)
www.TheTucsonPuppetLady.com ~ Puppet Patterns ~ Page 2
“Gingerbread Man” Body
Most of our felt puppet patterns are designed with the same “gingerbread man”
body shape. This way you can make blank body puppets in multiple colors and all
that needs to be added are the features.
Ears - All our ear patterns are designed to be added to the gingerbread man body.
There’s two reasons for this. The first reason is creating a blank puppet that can
become anything as mentioned above. The second is the size of pre-cut felt is often
too small to fit the body and ears together.
If you prefer the look of ears as part of the body, then you can add the ears to
the body pattern before cutting the felt. Just make sure you have a larger sheet of felt
or felt by the yard, so your pattern fits.
The Squirrel has ears you can add before cutting out the body.
Sewing Option - Body
Our instructions have you glue the two felt body pieces together with glue.
You can also sew the body together with a sewing machine. This is extremely useful
if you’re making a lot of puppets and end up buying felt by the yard instead of by the
sheet. You can trace multiple body patterns onto the larger felt and sew them all at
once before cutting them out.
Step 1: Pin together two felt sheets in the body color of your puppet.
Step 2: Trace the body pattern in crayon on the top layer of felt. Remember to leave
the bottom open for your hand.
Step 3: Machine sew on the traced line. Double stitch the top shoulder curve, since
it gets more pressure from your fingers in the puppet and might pop the stitch with
use.
Step 4: Cut out near the seam leaving about 1/8” seam allowance, but be careful
not to cut the stitches. Don’t turn the puppet inside out, because that will make the
puppet smaller than the designed features.
Step 5: The blank body is done and ready for the features to be glued onto the
puppet.
www.TheTucsonPuppetLady.com ~ Puppet Patterns ~ Page 3
Making the Squirrel Puppet
Making the Body
Step 1: Print and cut out pattern pieces.
Step 2: Trace the body pattern on top felt sheet
using crayons.
Note: Washable crayons work great for marking
felt and the lighter colors show up on dark felt
better than most pens. The crayon will eventually
rub off.
Step 3: Pin the top felt sheet to bottom felt sheet so
they stay together when you cut.
Step 4: Cut the felt along the traced body line. Be
sure to cut both the top and bottom layers.
Step 5: Fold back the top layer of felt from the
edge. Add a dab of glue to the bottom felt. Press
and bond the top layer to the bottom. Continue
around the edges of the body until the two layers
are glued together. Remember to keep the bottom
open for your hand.
www.TheTucsonPuppetLady.com ~ Puppet Patterns ~ Page 4
Cut Out and Glue Felt Features
Step 1: Trace and cut out the felt features.
White Felt - Eyes
Black Felt - Pupils, Nose, Paws and Mouth
Antique White Felt - Muzzle and Belly
Dark Brown Felt - Stripe
Tan Felt - Ears
Step 2: Glue the nose and mouth to the muzzle.
Step 3: Glue the stripe and belly into place.
Step 4: Glue the eyes and muzzle into place.
www.TheTucsonPuppetLady.com ~ Puppet Patterns ~ Page 5
Step 5: Glue the paws and pupils into place.
Step 6: Glue the ears to the back side of the
puppet.
Step 7: Add small white circles or squares as gleams
to the pupils.
www.TheTucsonPuppetLady.com ~ Puppet Patterns ~ Page 6
Squirrel Body
www.TheTucsonPuppetLady.com ~ Puppet Patterns ~ Page 7
Muzzle
Stripe
Mouth
Eyes Pupils Nose
Belly
Ears
Paws
www.TheTucsonPuppetLady.com ~ Puppet Patterns ~ Page 8
