Posted by This month’s featured social media account is another Instagram account I happened upon while browsing geek related items. The account is Laura1BeeCrochet, the user is Laura Bellmer. What makes this account so interesting? Laura posts pictures of dolls that she crochets. All designs are completely made by her and (this is the best part) the dolls are geek related!
I wanted to learn more about Laura and her hobby, so I sent her a message to ask her if she was willing to chat about her craft. Here is that conversation
(Danniel Slade) Laura, thank you for taking the time to answer a few of my questions. I want to start off by asking you to tell our audience a little about yourself?
(Laura Bellmer) I have to thank you for this opportunity! I’m Laura and I am living in Germany together with my fiancé. I’m 22 years old and I taught myself to crochet about 6 years ago. My first piece that I made was a whale which was quite chubby and I put too little stuffing in it. Besides crocheting I like to travel, hike, bake cupcakes and of course watch quite a lot of cartoons and movies where I get most of my inspirations from.
(DS) Tell us a little bit about your fandoms. I am guessing you are a geek with a strong passion towards some of the properties you base your dolls from?
(LB) Oh yes, of course! I like lots of different kind of fandoms, so it’s quite hard for me to just choose one. My favorite is definitely the Harry Potter series. I haven’t read the books until five years ago, when my boyfriend gave them to me as Christmas present. It included a word searching game and the price was a trip to the Harry Potter studios in London. So maybe this influenced me to like it even more! I also like the little Cartoon “Over The Gardenwall”, because it always gives me that fall feeling. When I was younger I was quite hooked on the Pokémon “Leaf Green Version” game for the Gameboy Advanced, so that’s why I needed to crochet a few Pokémons and also Pokeballs. Other fandoms that I really like are Gravityfalls, Rick & Morty, Adventure Time, all Studio Ghibli movies, Animal Crossing and Disney.
(DS) How did you come up with the idea to create dolls with crochet?
(LB) When I first started crocheting I only made animals and blankets. I wanted to make something which has a bit more character and individuality. It was really important to me that the dolls are made in one cute looking style that I can add different hair, costumes and details on. Just like all the Funko Pop characters. They actually inspired me to come up with a crochet character design of my own. To find a cute style was quite hard for me at first so I’ve done a lot of experimenting and I am so happy that I finally found the best way to make them. Rick and Morty were the first characters that I made that got the style that I carried forward to all the other figurines.
(DS) Did you always do geek related properties? If not, when did you decide to start making dolls from geek related properties?
(LB)No, I didn’t always do geek related crocheting. For example, a while back I made lots of different little animals, but the geek related characters have somehow drawn interest to me. Especially, when I finally figured out the way to make them look even more cuter.
(DS) On average, how long does it take you to complete one of these dolls?
(LB) That depends on how many details the doll has. Particularly, when I need to use lots of felt to create the details for it. On average I’d say it takes between 1 and 3 hours to make one doll, but I am enjoying every minute. Creating the details and little items is the most fun part about it.
(DS) I am betting you go through a lot of yarn?
(LB) Oh yes, that’s true. Especially basic colors like black, white, brown and the skin color yarn are running out the fastest. Luckily, the next yarn shop is only a short walk away.
(DS) Is there a character that you haven’t done yet that you really want to do but might be a little difficult due to the design?
(LB) Ever since my fiancé started playing “The Witcher-Wild Hunt” I wanted to make the main character Gerald (and also, because my financé asked me to). I sketched and I planned to make him, but never actually crocheted him, though. Gerald has quite a lot of armor where I need to work with felt and quite a few layers. It just seemed so hard to make him as detailed as possible. But Gerald is on my to do list for sure.
(DS) How many different characters have you created so far?
(LB) I’ve designed about 150 different characters so far and there is no end in sight.
(DS) I need to ask, what is your favorite doll out of all the ones you have created so far?
(LB) I have to admit that’s quite a difficult question, but if I had to pick one out of all my dolls then I’d say my favorite one is by far Alice from Alice in Wonderland. To me personally the story has so much worth and I identify myself with Alice quite strongly as someone who sees magic in everyday life and is always curious. I also quite fanatically read Alice in Wonderland minimum twice a year, in various editions.
(DS) I see you have an Etsy store. What type of creations do you sell on there? Do you do custom orders?
(LB) Yes, I opened my Etsy shop in April 2017. All the creations that I post on my Instagram account can be found in my Etsy shop as well. And yes, I also make custom orders, they are my favorite ones to make. I take my time to sketch and plan the desired character/item properly and also when making it. I also keep the customer updated and involved in the process so that there can always be changes made if wanted.
(DS) What else do you make besides these awesome dolls?
(LB) Besides making the dolls I also crochet cute animals, knit socks that can also be customized and found in my Etsy shop and crochet blankets.
(DS) You started a new project on your Instagram page called ABCrochet2018. Can you tell me what this is all about?
(LB) I am really excited to finally start this project that I’ve planned for quite some time. I am about to crochet 2 dolls for each letter of the alphabet, in total 52 dolls. This also includes a guessing game to make it more fun! Before showing the complete doll, I post a cropped picture of it and give my followers on Instagram 24 hours to guess which character it might be. The person who guessed most of the dolls correctly during the time of this ABCrochet2018 project has the chance to win his/her favorite character (even if I haven’t made it yet) at the end.
(DS) What do you have planned this coming year? Any new ventures or surprises we should keep watch for?
(LB) Firstly, I want to work on my ABCrochet2018 project, which brings so much joy to me. After that I already got an idea what I might do next. I’m planning on doing a similar project than the ABCrochet2018 one, but instead of dolls I would like to crochet animals. I don’t want to sort them in alphabetical order either, but rather arrange them by colors. I am thinking about making 5 different animals per color. This way I am allowed to work with colors that I haven’t touched in a while. I also want to keep the guessing game going, so this will be included again as well. Of course, the one or other doll will make its way to my crochet hook during the time of this new project too.
(DS) Is Instagram the only social media you are on? How can our audience learn more about you?
(LB) Yes, Instagram is the only social media where I put my crochet work for everyone to see. It just suits me and my work best. I’ve also been thinking about using the Patreon platform for quite some time now, but haven’t come to a conclusion about it yet. Nearly every time when I post a doll, character or item I write some personal information about me in the picture discretion box below. But I am also always happy to answer questions about me, my life and my work.
Laura, thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. For those who want to follow Laura1BeeCrochet on Instagram head to https://www.instagram.com/laura1bee/ and click that follow button. There is something new everyday on her page. Follow Laura and see how awesome the world of crochet can be!
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