BY COMBINING the old with the new, Sally Everett has created her own unique style, writes MAREE WALLACE
Sally Everett is hooked on felting.
It's not unusual for the versatile textile artist to spend entire days rubbing, rolling, pounding and treading alpaca and sheep fibres on her country property at Hallora, in west Gippsland.
The result is her own fashion accessories made under her Sillee Sallee label, so detailed and exquisite she has won a host of first prizes from the Royal Melbourne Show to New Zealand's agricultural show.
By combining old methods and modern crafts, Sally has created her own unique style that includes wearable art such as hats, jewellery and clothing.
"Felting can be very unpredictable and I learn by trial and error. Each garment brings its own challenges and surprises," says Sally, a member of the Victorian Feltmakers Association, as well as the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria.
"Felting is like painting with wool.
"It allows me to capture the rich textures and depth of colour found in the surrounding countryside."
She pursues an earthy, organic look, which is obtained by using fleece straight from the shearer.
She rears three alpacas and their near-organic fleece is carded, spun or felted and then fashioned into her garments.
"Lately, I've been experimenting with eco-dyeing. I wrap onion skins, ivy, oxalis, gum leaves, flowers and rusty nails in silk.
"When steamed, these produce alluring patterns in beautiful shades of corn, rusty tan, gold, orange and olive greens."
Born in the UK, she began designing and making her own fashion accessories from an early age.
Over the years she has attended many workshops in classic French design and pattern making.
These days, Sally creatively embellishes her hand-dyed felt with many different types of finishes.
Her use of metallic and silk raised embroidery is deftly combined with pointe de bruxelles laces, stump work and tatting to produce vibrant lace felted scarves (nuno and cobweb felting), wraps, felted skirts and carpet bags.
Her accessory collection includes intriguing pieces of costume jewellery created from pre-loved beads, laces and embroidery.
She also designs and produces a range of needle felting kits and knitting patterns.
A fascination with the many different textile techniques handed down through the ages has led Sally to combine old methods and modern crafts.
She experiments with lucet cord binding, naalbinding - or Scandinavian needle knitting, tatting, embroidery and stitchery to create contemporary pieces of wearable art.
Home spun linen, vintage Japanese silk flowers and translucent silk organza add another dimension to her craft.
Her current works include several wall hangings replicating a Royal Doulton plate from the l930s, Van Gogh's Blossom and Gauguin's chair.
"I thoroughly research the background of each piece before giving it my own personal interpretation," says Sally.
In keeping with her Sillee Sallee image, she produces both practical and fun items.
Sillee Sallee's banana socks have been modified from a traditional sock pattern developed in the Cotswolds, England.
"I knit the socks in garter stitch on seagull quills. These were used by crofters in the Hebrides for early knittings of Fair Isles and Arans and I find them very flexible and wonderful to work with."
Each pair is a unique design using delicately soft coloured embroidery silks, home-spun alpaca wool, Merino wool dyed with gum leaves and colourful traditional tapestry wools interlaced in a Victorian style with sensuous satin ribbons.
Influenced by the 1920s period, Sally designs her own range of original timeless hats. Many of these incorporate hand-dyed fibres using the fibre sandwich method.
- Sillee Sallee Creations are available at Pink Fly in Yarragon and Serigraph Gallery in Neerim South.
