Desired job to work as a tailor
I was already born with the talent for manual work. The great-grandfather master tailor, his wife hat maker. Both together had a tailor's shop with hat making in the renowned St. Moritz in Switzerland.
I already enjoyed working with yarn and fabric in kindergarden. I sat in my nursery for hours, tailoring clothes for my Barbie dolls. Since I could not sew yet, I glued the fabrics together with glue or stapled them.
I also drew a lot and dreamed of becoming a great fashion designer.
When I got to school, I was looking forward to the first few hours of manual work. Back then, great importance was attached to girls learning to knit and sew. Throughout my school days, I was really excited about the weekly handicraft lessons, my favorite school hours. Back then, being creative was very important to me and the best thing ever.
Unfortunately, after school I was not allowed to learn my dream job as a tailor. I did an apprenticeship as a hairdresser for women. The training was very educational and shaped my further life. This was followed by the famous years of apprenticeship and hiking, where I also trained and worked as a make-up artist and nail designer. Later I completed additional training as a visual merchandiser, which I completed with top marks. I tried different professions and was never really happy because I knew in my heart that all I wanted to do was sew, be creative and independent.
Dance-Line, my own tailoring studio
In 1993 I was able to fulfill my dream of having my own tailor's studio. Now I was allowed to do what I loved doing and always wanted - sewing. As a passionate dancer in the Latin and Standardard dances and later also as a hobby in boogie-woogie and rock'n roll, I knew exactly what is important for a good dance costume.
I designed and sewed clothes for well-known figure skaters such as Eliane and Daniel Hugentobler and also for dancers at home and abroad.
Every day I work with fine and wonderful lace fabrics. This resulted in luxurious dresses and these were decorated with thousands of rhinestones.
It made me infinitely happy and proud to see these dresses sewn for hours on the dance floor or even on TV at European, World Cup and even Olympic Games.
Video:
Eliane and Daniel Hugentobler,
Swiss Champions Ice Dancing.
Dresses made and sponsored
by Dance-Line
Jollybear - Artist dolls and teddys
The tailoring studio for dance clothes was replaced by a passion for artist dolls and teddies. When I looked into the black button eyes of a teddy bear for the first time it was all about me. I also wanted to be able to sew such lovely creatures. With a lot of passion, passion, diligence and ambition, I managed to create a name for myself in the world of bears and dolls within a short time and to design my very own style of teddy bears.
With my bears I was also a guest at some events and even on TV. So I was allowed to have a talk with Kurt Aeschbacher on Swiss Televison. Then I was a guest at Gion Cavelty's Literature Show and we were also invited to the Bern Officers' Ball.
Tele Züri even named me Zurich of the month.
This was followed by trips across Europe and even overseas such as Japan and America. Always in the luggage, a group of teddy bears. It was wonderful to see how these hairy fellows could connect people from different cultures. I made a lot of new contacts and friendships developed all over the world. At the height of my career with many Swiss, European and even world championship titles, I said goodbye to the world of bears and dolls.
True to the motto: You should stop when it is most beautiful.
Jollybag - the bag with individual photo printing
The hairy bear fellows were replaced by a pretty, four-legged Golden Retriever dog lady named Kayla, who moved in with us in 2005. It awakened in me the desire to have a bag with her photo on it so that I could always have it very close to me.
I didn't find anything anywhere and so I designed and manufactured my very own bag with personal photo printing. The bag attracted so much attention that I soon had a large customer base with animal friends who also wanted to call such a bag their own. We printed horses, dogs, cats, snakes and many other animals on the bags. Animal friends from home and abroad let me put their furry ones on their bags.
Trade magazines also reported a lot about my bags. There were reports in the horse magazine Cavallo and Pegasus, in the dog and cat magazine and the dog. Celebrities like Swiss pop singers Monique and Sarah Jane also had their very own bag made for me.
Report:
LIFESTYLE
Sarah Jane with Jollybag
Jollybag - from the blanch bag to the knitting bag
Many customers liked the blanch bags and so they asked whether I could also make bags and needle cases for knitters. I set out to create a design that was unique in its kind. My trademark was cute little sheep and funny sayings that brought the dusty image of the knitter into modern times. The motifs were embroidered on the bags.
To match the bags, I have also designed and made cases for circular knitting needles and sock knitting needles, as well as double pointed needles according to my own design. Since I was also practicing the hobby of making glass beads at the time, I decorated each bag with a handmade glass bead pendant. The bags are unique and are still unparalleled today.
Jollydoll - Handmade for Sasha
It was in the fall of 2020 when I talked to my mother about my childhood. We came to the subject of Sasha dolls. I remembered my 3 Sasha dolls leading a dreary life in the closet. Shortly afterwards I took it out of the closet. They were given a thorough bath, and their hair was washed and re-styled. Then I saw that the rubbers on the body were very loose and also had to be re-wound. Since I was already working as a doll maker, putting on the Sasha rubbers was again a new topic for me. I did some research on the Internet and was amazed that there are entire Facebook groups on the subject of Sasha dolls. Middle-aged women who, like me, still own their own dolls and share and exchange this passion with others.
I joined these groups and it happened as it had to, the virus quickly spread to me.
I saw so many beautiful dresses and how wonderfully the dolls are dressed. I quickly took out my sewing machine, which was also in hibernation, and set up my sewing room again. Since then I have already sewn some new clothes for my Sashas. Since I can't keep track of all of them myself and have so many ideas in mind, I also sell one or two pieces of clothing.
Visit me also on:
jollydoll_handmadeforsasha
Jollyknits - the special kind of knitting experience
Knitting has been with me since I was a child and so I founded the Jollyknits label in 2010. With great pleasure I now design knitting patterns. My love belongs above all to the delicate lace shawls, fashionable loops and practical baby blankets.
I offer the suitable gradient yarn for my patterns in various qualities. All yarns ara available in my shop are hand-wound by me with love and created according to my own color ideas.
My gradient yarns and patterns always tell a story. So I let myself be inspired by flowers, fruits, animals and colors of nature and then implement these ideas in a topic.
Let yourself be enchanted for a very special kind of knitting experience. Happy knitting!
Sincerely
Jolanda Schneider
