Dont remember what age it was early, i remember having two dolls one was made of rubber the other was a headless barbie i got from one of my cousins. needle and thread was all i had but it didnt stop me just made barbie clothes and gave them to my cousins lord know i didnt play with the dolls and have been doing some kind of needle craft since. crochet, embrodery, cross stitch, plastic canvas sewing of course. like many folks that are classified "baby boomers" i came from a large family and you made do with what you had and to this day i still buy stuff at yard sales , coodwill some to fix and wear others for quilting . any of my hobbies are like the lady said calgon take me away if is not sewing drafting a new pattern its reading up on something i havent done or need a refresher on BUT i never do any actual quilting when mad because i will just take it out being unsatisfied with the results