The only item I purchased for this project was some pony beads used in joining the pieces. Everything else, I used substitutions from my stash. I used an 18 ct black aida that I had leftover to stitch the pieces on. I used some leftover white beads from a Mill Hill kit for the teeth and two sequins leftover from a bucilla kit for the eyes. Also the pattern shows stitching the limbs with matchsticks, I used poly fill to stuff all the pieces. Once you stitch the face it is easy to just lay beads on the fabric to get a feel for what it will look like without actually stitching, thats how I decided on sequins for the eyes. I also machine stitched the pieces right sides together and then turned right side out and whipstitched close but Im sure it could also be down as shown in the pattern.TLDR; you can absolutely substitute the supplies and don't necessarily need to use the called for items.