FORT LIARD - If you give Stevie Nande a few scraps of hide, a bit of thread, some yarn and a few beads he can create anything from a warrior to a horse.

Although he's only 15, Nande makes very detailed traditional dolls.

Nande has made women carrying baby-packing boards on their backs, hoop dancers, drummers, deer, horses, warriors with bows and arrows and many other figures. Each doll is slightly different.

Stevie Nande's traditional dolls made of hide will soon be for sale at Acho-Dene Native Crafts in Fort Liard. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

Many have necklaces or earrings. Dancers are adorned with feathers and there's beading on each doll's clothing, sometimes including their moccasins or mukluks.

It was only a year ago that Nande first picked up a needle. He would watch his older sister Leeann sewing and decided to try it. His first projects were larger dolls made of cloth.

Sewing turned out to be a bit trickier than it seemed.

"I poked my fingers a lot," said Nande.

But the challenge was worth it. The dolls won Nande first place in the 14 and under category at an art show in Fort Liard.

"I was happy," said Nande about his win.

From the larger dolls Nande went miniature, after seeing dolls made of hide on the television craft show The Creative Native.

"I wanted to try it," he said.

Nande admits that his first attempt, a woman carrying a baby, looked a bit funny, but he soon got the hang of the smaller dolls. In the fall of 2006 he brought a sample of his dolls to Acho-Dene Native Crafts in Fort Liard.

"I was so amazed," said Eva Hope, the interim general manager of the store.

"I couldn't believe how talented he is for his age."

Although she hasn't put them on display yet, Hope purchased a number of the dolls from Nande. She said after she determines how well they sell, she will decide if she will purchase any more. In the meantime, Hope gives Nande scraps of hide or tiny pieces of fur for his creations.

To make one of the dolls Nande starts with an idea and draws it on paper. He begins by sewing the head and then makes the body, followed by the legs, arms and feet. The yarn hair is always the last part. Nande said he sews when he feels like it and makes each doll individually.

So far, Nande's favourite creation is a warrior wearing a hat with bison horns. The hat attaches to a robe that falls down the warrior's back to end with a bison tail. Of all the figures, horses are the hardest to make because they need extra attention so they will stand on their own, said Nande.

Nande's not sure if he'll continue to sew in the future. Right now it's just a hobby.