A storefront lab honoring wool and the animals it came from

Ponchos, blankets, carpets, jackets, tops, shawls and even a St. Francis robe in the window, are featured with about 100 artfully displayed handmade wool pieces in predominantly neutral colors, celebrating a lost art.

It all started with animals, said Isabella Rossellini of her new venture, Mama Farm & Friends, in her wool lab/storefront on Bellport’s Main Street. It will open soon, Fridays and Saturdays, highlighting her collection.

Think of it as farm-to-fashion.

“I love animals and went back to school when I was 50 to study the science of animal behavior,” she said of her master’s in ethology (the study of animal behavior) and conservation.

The wool comes from her sheep herd, a short distance away, in Brookhaven hamlet at Mama Farm.  There are two Santa Cruz named Dindi and Gertrude Stein, with short and curly fleece; two Lincoln longwools, Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keeffe with long wavy fleece, a threatened breed; two Jacobs, Greta Garbo and Eleonora Duse, dark  colored with white wool, also threatened; and two Finn, Toto and Pepino, whose wool is known for its softness. 

She was joined by Mama Farm’s manager Anthony Luscia, with a creative consultant and design director background, including Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and Mimi Prober, a creator of handcrafted heirlooms, at the storefront. “Mimi works only with sourcing wool from farms we know, almost like shopping at a farmers’ market, and we created an alliance with Mimi.”  Prober assembles the carpets, blankets, and ponchos with Rossellini.

“I met Mimi at a gathering of the Hudson Valley Textile Project,” explained Rossellini. “This organization tries to gather all the shepherds in our region. There used to be many farms and many sheep in New York State and the East Coast, but now the business has moved abroad (China, New Zealand). We try to support the remaining shepherds and farmers modeling our attempts, like the small vegetable farms that sprang up all over in the past years like the HOG or Early Girl farms.

“The Peconic Land Trust champions small farms all over Long Island and this organization helps me, too. These small farms are such [a] contribution to the local communities… otherwise, we would only have second homes, golf courses and beaches, and nothing else!”

Luscia has helped oversee the farm since 2022. He was leading a shearing demonstration for a group the next day.

Sheep must be sheared as they lost their ability to shed fur due to centuries of domestic breeding, Rossellini explained. After shearing, the wool is skirted, which weeds out dirt, hairs that are too short, and excrement. Then it’s washed, carded (combed), and spun to be used for knitting, using a loom, and crocheting.

Luscia explained that the weeded-out wool, “we use for mulch; it has nutrients,” he said.

“It’s a long process and some we do at Mama Farm, some we do at the Battenkill Fibers Carding and Spinning Mill (in Greenwich, N.Y.) run by Mary Jeanne Packer, an extraordinary woman,” Rossellini said.

The storefront has sewing and knitting machines, a loom, and a spinning wheel.

Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society & Museum director Tricia Foley lent a hand with providing an upstairs space to further develop Rossellini’s wool endeavor early fall of last year.

“Eventually, we realized we needed a bigger space,” Rossellini said. “So, I thought, why not a little shop in town?”

The thinking is to educate those who visit the wool lab about the entire process and if they choose an item, identifying what type of wool would be best and which sheep it would come from. “A lot of people, for example, buy eggs. They don’t think about the chickens they come from. This wool is sourced locally.”

Still active with acting, directing, and producing theater projects, Rossellini  followed her animal muse via a local land purchase in 2012. The 28-acre Mama Farm was established in 2013, protected by a conservation easement, with a bed-and-breakfast and events (daughter Elettra Wiedeman is program director) added later. She integrated bees, heritage chickens, and other animals including turkeys, ducks (no animals are slaughtered), and an organic farm with a CSA. And now sheep.

Consider this another creative extension. 

Rossellini picked up a dress created by Prober.

“The wool isn’t dyed,” she said of the neutral shade. “The reason there’s no color is that I miss the sheep.”

Items are pricey, but would be considered wearable and enduring works of art.  Rossellini encourages those with heirloom gifts from moms, aunts, grandmothers to come in and integrate them into a treasured fashion piece.

“I put in my grandmother’s crochet pieces,” she said, pointing to a poncho. “With my aunt’s stepmother, we made a beautiful shawl and saved pieces from her clothing for the lining.

“Bring whatever you have in your home and work with us. This is not a fashion shop, but more for your heart.”