DOLL CRAFTS

A guidebook to making simple dolls and accessories sounds like a fine idea, as long as the supplies are readily available and the crafts are reasonably achievable.

This effort excels at offering crafts that require inexpensive supplies that many young crafters might have access to, including old T-shirts, bits and pieces of felt, inexpensive paints, buttons, needles, and thread. The skills required to create the various dolls, small stuffed animals, doll clothing, and houses vary widely. Some of the crafts involve little more than wrapping yarn around pipe cleaners and adding a bead head. Other crafts, such as a simple-appearing stuffed “puppy dog”; a button-up coat; a painted cloth doll that must be stitched, turned right side out, and stuffed; and doll shoes with craft-foam soles and stitched-on felt tops, involve a considerable amount of careful sewing. Lists of supplies for each project are included, and patterns and directions are clear, but few of the projects state the skill level needed. Some do include the caveat “Adult supervision needed.” The variety is wide, including a voodoo doll, a zombie, a pocket gnome, and gingerbread cookies. Sidebars offer additional information on the history of dolls and their places in some cultures.

While enjoyable to browse, these doll instructions are most likely to thwart all but the most determined of crafters.