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Mouthplate with bottom thumb pocket sewn in.
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Nose pinned on to check for placement.
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Nose pinned on, holding eyes up to decide where they LOOK best.
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Puppet head after permanently attaching eyes and nose.
After finishing up the mouthgrip on the mouthplate inside the head, I get to turn it right side out again. I add the foam skull piece back in, in order to decide the placement of the nose and eyes. I can pin the nose on temporarily, then I can see where the eyes should go. This is a very important part of the puppet build, because the "focus" of the eyes needs to be just right. I want this puppet to appear to be almost peeking over his nose directly at the camera/audience. I used the seam as a guide to center the nose and the eyes, and decided on placing the eyes about 2 finger widths back from the top of the nose. This is going to differ from puppet to puppet. I really take my time getting the placement decided. I pin them where I think they should go- then I look at them straight on and from the sides. I also have other people look at them. (My kids are great critics!)
Before I sew the nose in place, I trim up some of the fur that will be directly under it (makes it lie flush to the head). After sewing the nose. I mark to small areas to cut just enough room to slide the posts from the eyes down into. I add the push-nuts onto the posts from the inside and they are locked in!
 
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Positioning the grip onto the mouthplate
Tonight, I have been working on building the mouthgrip onto the mouthplate. I sew a panel of fleece around a sheet of rubber that goes together for the fingers of the hand to slide into. I also place a piece of latex makeup sponge material under where the middle of the hand goes to form a more natural position. (Otherwise, the puppeteer would be working with their fingers in a very uncomfortable position, basically flat out the whole time)
The panels of fleece are sewn together at the edges and cemented down to the mouthplate over the sponge. The whole thing is cemented to the black fleece inside the mouth.
Then, I turn the whole thing right side out to check my work again. Yay! Tomorrow we will be moving on to adding more facial features.

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Mouthplate with grip, before adding top part to hold fingers in snugly.
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Funny, furry featureless head!