Jane Okheena runs a hand over a piece of fabric made by sewing together more than 250 small squares of raccoon fur and leather.

“It’s going to be a handbag,” she tells a group of women inside the community hall in Ulukhaktok, N.W.T., showing off the checkered material she created. “I really enjoyed putting these pieces together. I’ve never done anything like this before and this is different. It’s fun.”

Okheena was one of a handful of women who took part in a 3.5-day fur workshop in the community at the end of March. It was organized by the N.W.T. government’s industry, tourism and investment department (ITI) and funded by a federal program the aims to boost the seal fur industry.

All of the seamstresses already had experience working with fur, having long created things such as mitts, parkas, footwear and wall-hangings. 

Farley Chatto, a furrier, designer and educator from Toronto, said his goal was to share new techniques for using fur, like mixing different animal skins together and making patterns like stripes and chevrons. 

The idea, he said, was to open the doors to more creativity. 

“We get them to actually sit, develop ideas, become creative and experiment and play, which I don’t think they do a lot of,” he said. For example, he offered, “what happens if I take that seal skin and mix it with fox, and mix it with muskrat, or raccoon, or mink?” 

Inspiration was laid out on a table at the front of the room – dozens of samples that Chatto had made over the years: bags, clothing and pieces of fabric in an array of different furs, colours and patterns. 

“It’s a really interesting workshop because … it’s really a different way of thinking,” he said. “It’s really challenging the traditional thought pattern into something a little bit more open and a little bit different.” 

Emily Kudlak said she’s been working with fur ever since she could hold a sewing needle. During the program, she worked on a chevron-patterned fabric and used a new technique for cutting the strips of fur. 

Initially taught to cut horizontal lines across the pelt, Kudlak said she was experimenting with making the cuts on 30-degree angles instead to achieve a different texture. 

“This way, we’re still saving on material, it’s just a different way of positioning your angles and … your lines for the fur to flow outwards.”

Diversifying products for buyers

Cruise ships pass through Ulukhaktok in the summer. Kayla Cooper, ITI’s arts programming officer, said that’s an opportunity for artists to sell their work. 

“People who are on the cruise ships typically don’t probably live in northern climates, so buying a pair of sealskin mitts, while they’re beautiful, might not be functional for them,” she said. “So [we’re] just helping people think about things differently and, you know, especially thinking about the cruise ships and how they might be able to diversify their product offering.” 

Chatto has, in years past, led workshops in Fort Smith and Inuvik as well. Cooper said the federal funding also paid for two machines to be brought to Ulukhaktok: an industrial sewing machine and a fur machine. 

Okheena tried her hand at using the fur sewing machine, and was pleased with how it worked. 

At the end of the workshop, she said it was good to learn something new, and that it had her thinking about new types of projects she could work on.

“These different furs that we’re putting together, they’re going to look so cool on a parka,” she said. “Oh my God, they’re going to look so cool. Can’t wait to try.”