About me

 

I’m Laura and I’m based in Southampton, England.

 

I’ve loved and collected dolls all my life, but I began doing my own repairs as a hobby in my early thirties. I learned through trial and error, lots of practice, YouTube tutorials and wise women on Facebook groups. Dollcraft is a disappearing art, and I don't know of any courses or qualifications you can take. 

 

People started to ask me to repair their dolls, and in truth, I was hesitant at first. What if something went wrong? Eventually, though, I felt that I couldn’t not share my skills with others. I saw how much joy it brought a whole family when a treasured doll could be passed on to a daughter or granddaughter; or when a little girl had her best friend back; or when an elderly lady was reunited with the doll looking just as it did when she opened the box on Christmas morning so many years before. 

 

I ran Laura’s Doll Hospital as a not-for-profit for several years, but the time came when that was no longer sustainable. And so, as of April 2025, I’ve taken the daunting but very exciting step of launching my doll repair business. ​