My Constitution Street Puppet Making Workshop
All of our puppets and toys are handmade by myself and Emma in our lovely Constitution Street Studio.
Toy shop window
I keep a rolling window display. Every time I make a puppet or toy commission, I stand it in the window for a few days. There are always different puppets looking out of the window. We get a lot of people stopping to look in the window, and saying “fancy there being a toy shop on Constitution Street!”. Sometimes it makes me feel self conscious, but the puppets are right prima donnas. They love all the attention! If there is a child outside looking in, the puppets might do a little show for them and start moving about!
It’s really a workshop rather and a toy shop – we don’t sell anything off the peg because all our work is made to order. If you’ve got a poorly toy that needs some TLC, or want to chat about any custom toy ideas you might have, or even if you’re just curious about what life is like in a puppet maker’s workshop – give us a knock! Or Contact us by phone or email.
The story of my Puppet Building Studio
For the first 4 years of Picture to Puppet, I ran the business from my bedroom, and worked as a puppet maker online. This was a bit of a pain because rolls of fabric, tubes of paint and blocks of foam were crammed into every nook and cranny. And there was no escaping the solvent glue fumes or the ever present fluff! When I did bulk orders, for example when I made 500 sock puppets for a B&Q advert, they had to sit on my bed in tall towers in the daytime. At night they filled the only bit floor space that made it possible to enter and leave the room. But I made it work, because I was short of options!
Last Autumn I took on a beautiful but somewhat derelict Victorian flat on Constitution Street. My family and I set about turning the front room into a puppet and toy workshop and toy hospital.
The big turquoise front door is my favourite thing about the flat, and sometimes tourists stop and take selfies on my steps! It took me about ten days up a ladder to renovate the front door. It had been a bit unloved in previous times and needed lots of filling and sanding. The railings took even longer, and that way I got to meet all the local characters on Constitution Street. It is a lovely friendly street!
The Puppet Making Cupboards
My Dad laid beautiful oak floors and built the most amazing puppet making cupboards. They’ve got wheels inside for storing rolls of fabric and having the colour you want at the front. There’s even a built in filing cabinet for storing all the patterns I’ve made. I even got organised and ordered all my bits of fabric in boxes according to colour and type.
Snow Puppet
In collaboration with the Beast from the East, I made a snow puppet of Phyllis, the character in my logo!
Also see our Custom Puppets, our Toy Hospital and our Toys from children’s drawings:
