Alayna Wong

About

Alayna Wong is a professional ballet dancer based in Dallas. During her years of pre-professional training, she filled her spare time between rehearsals with crocheting. Eventually, Jeté & Crochet was born! The name combines her two loves in life – ballet and crocheting – and fittingly, the first customers of her crocheted stuffies were fellow ballet dancers. An OU graduate, Alayna has been selling regularly in Norman and online since 2022. The revenue from her sales funded her auditions and her move to Dallas from Norman in 2023 to begin her full-time professional ballet performance career while continuing to build Jeté & Crochet (J&C). She loves spreading joy with her little stuffies and is grateful for the unique opportunity to share her art through both dance and crochet at the same time, as well as to every single person who has supported her along the way.

Q&A

How did you start pet portraits?
My amigurumi are mostly animals already, but a friend of mine asked if I could make one specifically of their pet, with its unique color patterns and markings. I said I'd give it a shot and they loved the final result, so I started offering to make custom pets alongside my regular amis and the rest is history.

What's your favorite animal to paint/sculpt/photograph etc?
That's a tough one. Weiner dogs are a current favorite, but jellyfish and bumblebees are also always fun. And I've made so many elephants and bunnies that I can practically make those with my eyes closed.

Do you have any pets? Are they an inspiration in your work?
I don't, but I love animals and love how much joy they bring to people, which is why I make small fuzzy friends to hopefully bring a smile to everyone who sees them!

Any advice for artist getting into pet portrait work?
If you're inspired to make a portrait of your pet, you're already halfway there! You don't need to be an expert in your art medium in order to start. For small amigurumi specifically: pets sometimes come in complicated colors, and it may be better to condense their color patterns down to the most striking areas or features, rather than trying to crowd all of the color changes together onto such a small body of work. Good luck and start making!

Do you take commissions?
Yes! Message me on Instagram or Etsy!