Sunley previously worked in the wardrobe department of the comedy series Hee Haw (1971-1972), the television mini series How the West Was Won (1977), and the television horror film The Spell (1977). He was the costumer for the men on the television drama The Mystic Warrior (1984, with Robert Beltran, Nick Ramus, and Branscombe Richmond) which earned him an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement – Costumers, shared with Lucille Cusolito. As costume designer, Sunley worked on the television movies Swing Out, Sweet Land (1970), Night Cries (1978), and The Initiation of Sarah (1978). He was also the wardrobe supervisor on the 1986 television drama A Winner Never Quits, starring Keith Carradine and Fionnula Flanagan.