By Martha E Bishop

Many times a beginning stitcher will spend hours or even days painstakingly sewing up a doll pattern only to ruin it by not choosing the right doll stuffing. Part of the problem, is that the inexperienced doll maker can be overwhelmed by the multitude of doll making supplies available. However, using the wrong stuffing can not only damage an heirloom-quality doll, but it can be downright dangerous.

For a beginner, ease, convenience and cost are the most important things to consider when choosing doll making supplies. The doll dress, the doll skin, the doll's eyes, the doll hair and the doll face may require serious research in order make that perfect doll. But the doll stuffing? Who cares? One can't even see it.

Choosing the right doll stuffing requires deliberate thought and research. If the doll is going to be for a child, is that doll going to be loved and dragged around both indoors and out, or is it going to sit on a shelf and be admired? Does the child have any allergies? If the doll is going to be a holiday decoration, where will it be stored the other eleven months out of the year?

Here are some tips to help you select the right doll stuffing for your project:

Choosing the Right Doll Stuffing - Tip #1:

As a general rule, do not stuff any doll with a food product. The doll will never be able to be washed without cutting carefully sewn seams and removing the stuffing first.

If the doll will live in a damp climate, almost any food stuffing can sprout and ruin the doll. Coffee beans smell wonderful, but they can stain the fabric skin and ruin it forever.

Dolls stuffed with any organic matter and stored in attics or basements can attract vermin and bugs. The critters will ruin the doll and create a problem that might require a professional exterminator.

Choosing the Right Doll Stuffing - Tip # 2:

There are many dolls on display in museums which have been stuffed with sawdust, and there are many doll artists out there who feel that sawdust is the only authentic choice. Sawdust stuffing is a viable option for all dollmakers, beginners and beyond.

However, this sawdust is not some random product swept up off the floor of a wood shop because much of the lumber available today has been chemically treated.

There is a special doll stuffing sawdust product available at stores specializing in doll making supplies that comes from very clean, very dry untreated wood, and it has been sifted so that the sawdust is of a consistent size.

Choosing the Right Doll Stuffing - Tip #3:

Many doll makers' such as myself favor the polyester fiberfill stuffing that can be found at any craft or fabric store. Buy the best quality and your stuffing will go faster and will lay smoother against the doll's skin. The better the quality, the better it will hold the doll's shape.

Polyester fiberfill is hypoallergenic. It washes and dries better than any other product. It can be stuffed extremely firm, or it can have some give to it. When it's wet, it doesn't leech any color or odor into the fabric. It doesn't beard (work its way through the cloth fibers).

To provide more weight to the doll and to aid it in sitting or posing, make a little fabric bag and fill it with polypropylene pellets, which are also available at most craft stores. Tuck it into the doll around the buttocks area. The pellets add a realistic heft to the doll.

Now if you're looking for a cute doll pattern that has been developed specifically with beginners in mind, go to http://www.missbeesdesigns.com