NWT Arts

I started beading just over a year ago. When I was young, I watched my mother sew, and helped her tan the hides, but didn’t sew much myself. 

My sister was in the hospital in Yellowknife, and she was there for almost two months. She asked for me to go down, and my niece and my daughter said “take something to sew.” And I said, “take something to sew? I don’t even sew!” They cut it out, and they drew the flowers, and prepared everything for me… all I had to do was pick up the needle and thread and start sewing. That’s how I got started. My niece or my daughter-in-law still help me draw out my patterns.

With sewing, you really have to focus on what you’re doing. If you make a mistake, you have to take it off and start over again. I realized that I was pretty good at it and I started to sell them. So now, I’ll sit at home, where it is nice and quiet, and sew. Selling my art helps me make ends meet, especially when there’s no jobs here in town. It makes a big difference.