About Everlea Yarn
Hi, I'm Janna Maria.
Everlea Looms is my small-batch, handcrafted loom business based in Pender Harbour on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada. I offer two sizes of hand looms, designed for weavers of all levels, along with a selection of organic yarns—some of which I hand-dye using natural plant-based dyes.
I'm a trained textile artist with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fibres from Concordia University (2013), following a technical Textile Art diploma from Capilano University.
Each Everlea loom is crafted with care using high-quality maple and walnut woods, and occasionally, striking exotic hardwoods like purpleheart and osage orange. My popular weaving kits include a handcrafted loom paired with a curated selection of naturally dyed yarns. As a tapestry weaver myself, I also offer a free pre-recorded online introductory tapestry weaving workshop with every kit.
My signature yarn line includes fingering, sport, and worsted weight merino wool, all starting as 100% organic fibre sourced from New Zealand, spun in Ontario, and hand-dyed here in British Columbia. Many of my plant dyes are foraged locally. Natural dyes, especially indigo—my favourite—develop a rich patina with time, aging beautifully. I use historically proven dye plants that are both lightfast and washfast, ensuring the longevity and vibrancy of each skein.
I am a natural dyer, a weaver and a teacher.
I first learned how to dye textiles and weave tapestry in 2008 during my two years in Capilano University's Textile Art diploma program. In 2014 I began weaving tapestry as my primary artistic medium. I have been offering textile workshops for over a decade, including an invitation in 2011 to Aurora College (Northwest Territories) to teach my self-designed five-week textile art program.
Image above: Janna Maria sits in her weaving studio while filming online tapestry classes with the School of SweetGeorgia.
Everlea Yarn Co's Beginnings
Early on in my career, pursuing art did not seem like a sustainable option. In Capilano University's Textile Art Program (2008-2010) I pursued techniques and modes that I thought could be multiplied and put into the fastest production possible, not necessarily taking note of the techniques that I was personally drawn to. It wasn't until I entered into Concordia University's Fibres and Material Practices program in Montreal that I really sunk into an art practice that felt authentically my own. I delved deep into a slow, personal investigation into printing with natural dyes - techniques I brought with me from Capilano.
Everlea Yarn Co evolved out of my art practice, at the center of which is my relationships with others. I explore ideas of how personal growth can be either challenged or realized through one's perception of their surroundings and interpersonal relationships.
In 2013 I moved to New York and reacquainted with Katherine Earle, whom I met as a colleague at Concordia University's Fine Arts Program, and that is where Everlea began...
Everlea is our last names conjoined and reimagined:
My last name, Vallee, and Katherine Earle's last name combined is what became Everlea. Let me tell you more about that story:
In 2013, having just graduated from university as well as welcomed my son Sam into the world, my family and I moved to the New York metropolitan area for my partner's education. It was there that Katherine Earle and I, both Fibres graduates of Concordia University, formed Everlea Textiles; an art collective based on the sole notion of supporting each other in our respective artistic pursuits. We organized photoshoots, attended seminars together and shared skills with one another. In 2014 I began pursuing tapestry as my primary artistic medium using my own naturally dyed yarns. I shared my tapestry skills with Katherine, who was already an established hand-weaver, and in 2017, after having moved across the continent back to my home province of British Columbia, Katherine and I and continued our collaboration long-distance, weaving a joint series of tapestries based on photos taken during our time together in New York. Our project website can be found here: www.everleatextileart.weebly.com
Everlea Looms beginnings
In 2016 my family and I moved back to BC, and in the spring of 2018, in anticipation of my son entering kindergarten in the fall, I developed and launched Everlea Yarn, my own line of yarn - exactly the kind that I want to use: consciously sourced, Canadian spun and naturally dyed. In 2021 in collaboration with my maternal grandfather who is a retired cabinet maker, I designed and began producing by hand, Everlea Mini Looms and later, Everlea Tapestry Looms. As my business grew I decided to focus on making looms and loom kits, which are also the only products I was able to offer wholesale, so a name change was in order and in 2025 I rebranded to Everlea Looms.
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See some examples of my tapestries woven with Everlea Yarn below. Find my art portfolio HERE.
