Gameti, N.W.T. sewing club a popular draw

A new club in Gameti, N.W.T. is reviving traditional sewing with a modern twist, becoming one of the community's most popular pastimes.

"I like everything about the club," says sewing student Judy Wedawin. "I enjoy sewing, everybody's company, the sewing machine."

Women meet afternoons, evenings and weekends in Gameti's newly-renovated learning centre, where they take turns on six sewing machines, stitching together quilts and wall hangings. 

Humble Beginnings

"We're in a small community, and I was going to be happy if we had even four people registering," says Lynn Turcotte, who moved to Gameti in 2014. Almost immediately, she started getting questions about her sewing machine. "One day I went over the the cultural office and showed one lady a bag, and then every lady that saw me wanted me to start a sewing program."

Turcotte started the club in April, after securing some funding from the territorial government, Dominion Diamonds and the Tlicho government. According to Turcotte, "registration was a little slow to begin with," but once people started seeing the projects people were making, "all of the sudden the program was full."

Eventually, she had to add classes and start a waiting list for next year. She says students rarely miss a class, and usually beg her to stay past the two hour time slot. 

Unexpected results

"I didn't think I would learn to use a sewing machine in my lifetime," says Roxanne Mantla, one of the class' first students. "I'm definitely proud of myself."

Turcotte says she's seen each participant's confidence grow. "The joy on their faces when they complete a project is just thrilling, it's thrilling to me and it's thrilling to them," she says. But, she explains, it's the emotional response to the club that surprised her most.

On one wall is a collection of messages the women have written about the class, and the sense of accomplishment it gives them. "The day that the lady put up that 'nothing is impossible with sewing,' I almost started to cry," says Turcotte.

Students say it's Turcotte that makes the club such a positive space. "Lynn is positive enforcement," says Mantla. "She makes us feel welcome, she gets most of our jokes."

Those sentiments are mirrored by nearly all the women in the club. But Turcotte says she's gained as much from the club as the women who signed up for it. "The support that we give each other with our sewing, it makes me feel this is my home now, that I'm part of the community, whereas before I was an outsider."

The class wraps up this week, when Turcotte heads to her hometown in northern Ontario. But she's promised to return after the summer to start it back up early in the fall.