Creative Collection: All Tied Up

Reviving a Retro Craft and Giving It a Modern Edge Is All in a Day's Work for Macramé Creative Sarah Parkes

- Holly Byrne

DESPITE HER STUDIES in graphic design, maker Sarah Parkes has never worked a day in the job. The thought of spending most of her working life behind a computer was enough to deter her and, in the 10 years between earning her unused qualifications and launching her now wildly successful macramé business, Smalltown, she tried her hand at other creative pursuits.

“I had a little clothing label in the early 2000s and did hand stitching, screen-printing and hand embellishments,” she says. “I’ve always been more interested in things that were hands-on. That, and I’m a sucker for things that take a long time!”

Sarah’s creative streak can be traced back to her high school years. “My mum taught me to sew back in the 1990s, so I was working with old fabrics and making skirts out of tablecloths,” she recalls. “I think that’s when I really realised that you could have an idea and see it through to fruition with your own hands.”