Kamrin Te Kronnie
Founder, Organiser & Host European Waldorf Retreat
I was born in the Netherlands, raised in South East Asia in an east-west mixed cultural society. At the early age of 4 I started developing my love for creativity in art and needlecraft. I learned my first stitches on a doll garment cut freehand.
At 12, I took adult pattern making classes. The teachers gave me some assistance with the technical drawings. Burda pattern magazines were very popular during that time and I started sewing children’s clothes from those patterns and selling the sewn clothes in local villages. My interest in merchandising and trading started very young.
At 14 I attended a boarding school in the UK. I choose to take Needlework as one of the subjects for my O-level exams where I learned the basics of fine needlework and theory together with the technical terms which has helped me in editing sewing instructions for doll making kits.
In my early 20’s working in a clerical job at the General Bank of the Netherlands helped me build skills in commerce and communication, which is very helpful with my current business.
I was first introduced to the Waldorf dolls when my children attended a Waldorf Kindergarten in the 90’s. It was then that I took interest in doll-making classes. Soon I got involved in parent creative groups and volunteered to make dolls for school bazars. To refine my skills I became member of the Dutch Guild of Waldorf doll-makers. This was a doll-making community of women who came together a few times a year to share doll-making skills and experiences. Led by a few elder prominent and highly influential doll makers. Strict rules on making genuine cloth dolls following the principles of Waldorf education by Rudolf Steiner needed to be followed. Lectures and workshops were held and doll making materials were offered by a small group of suppliers.
In the early 90’s I did an intensive 6 week teachers training course organized by the Guild. It ended with an excursion and a small workshop at “Witte Engel” currently called “Meaningful Crafts”. The Guild has been a great influence for the existence of the Ewdor.
The knowledge and experience I have in doll making alongside my international upbringing has encouraged and inspired me to organize the Seminar every two years to bring together doll makers from all over the world to meet and share techniques and skills.
In 2002 I started my doll business “Kamrin’s Poppenatelier” teaching Waldorf doll making. At that time I also offered a small variety of doll making materials and kits. This has throughout the years grown into a small family business run together with my husband Berend and our daughter Lisa.
The world-renowned “DollyMo” doll hair yarn side of the business started in 2011 as a partnership and later I became the sole owner of the brand. Since 2018 we have been wholesaling our yarns worldwide. We are thrilled and happy to see how universal our brand has become. Seeing all the lovely dolls with hair made from our yarn is wonderful.
In 2021 we moved to the northern part of Holland, close to the German border of Niedersachsen. With that move we changed the business name to Kamrin’s Craft Cottage to more closely reflect our expanding inventory of premium craft supplies that we source all over the world.
Alongside doll making materials and soft toys we expanded our shop last year with a carefully curated collection of children’s fabrics. We are confident that we will continue to inspire our clients with these materials to many joyful creative hours. The fabric brings me full circle to the 12 year old me that fell in love with creating through sewing children’s clothes.