You need four basics: a smooth yarn, a hook slightly smaller than the ball band suggests, polyester stuffing, and eyes (safety eyes or embroidery). A stitch marker for the start of each round and a blunt tapestry needle complete the set. A simple starter combination is YarnArt Jeans (cotton-acrylic, 50 g / 160 m), Rico Stuffing Fibres (100% polyester, 100 g) and a Black Safety Eyes Mix Pack so you can test sizes.

A kit is a handy start because the colours are already matched and the eyes are included, so you only add a hook and stuffing. VILRITA's kits, such as Latte Neutrals and Blush Pink, contain 10 Wolans Bunny Baby Mini chenille skeins (20 g / 24 m each) plus safety eyes. Chenille hides stitches, so if it is your very first toy, practise the magic ring and single crochet on smooth cotton first.

Polyester fibrefill is the standard: it is light, springs back after squeezing and dries quickly after washing. Add it in small tufts rather than one big handful, push it into the corners, and stuff firmly enough to hold the shape without stretching the stitches open. Start stuffing a few rounds before you close the piece. Rico Stuffing Fibres come in 100 g bags, and Rico Craft Wadding is made for toys and cushions.

Fit safety eyes before you finish stuffing and close the head. Push the post through the fabric between two stitches from the outside, check the placement from every angle, then press the washer onto the post from the inside until it clicks firmly into the ridges. Once on, the washer is very hard to remove, so test positions first. Black Safety Eyes – 6 mm and the Safety Noses Mix Pack both come as sets with washers.

For dolls, pick a cotton-blend line with lots of colours, so skin tones, hair and clothes all come from the same yarn and match in thickness. YarnArt Jeans comes in 64 colours, Alize Cotton Gold in 62 and Gazzal Baby Cotton in 60. All three are cotton-acrylic blends with clear stitch definition; Jeans and Baby Cotton are sport weight, while Cotton Gold is a light weight on 100 g / 330 m balls.

Use a thick super bulky chenille so the toy grows fast and stays soft. Alize Velluto (100 g / 68 m, 8–10 mm hook) and Alize Softy Mega (100 g / 70 m, 10–12 mm hook) both build size quickly. For medium plushies, Himalaya Dolphin Baby (100 g / 120 m, 4.5 mm hook) gives a denser fabric. Bigger toys also need bigger features, so plan on safety eyes of roughly 18–25 mm.