Fort Qu'Appelle, Sask., class teaches kids to sew by making ribbon skirts

Louise BigEagle · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 19, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

Sewing is simply a accomplishment that you volition person for a beingness and it comes with galore lessons. Some accidental it builds patience, attraction and focus.

Kunsi (grandmother) Glendice Yuzicapi from Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation, adjacent Fort Qu'Appelle, Sask., wants her granddaughter Serenity Dumont to larn however to sew truthful she tin pass it down to her children 1 day, conscionable arsenic she was taught by her ain grandma.

Yuzicapi said her grandma utilized to marque blankets, dresses and adjacent socks for her and 14 different grandchildren she looked after.

Yuzicapi and her granddaughter are attending a people successful Fort Qu'Appelle aimed astatine teaching children and teens however to sew by making a ribbon skirt.

"My granddaughter is learning however to sew a ribbon skirt and she's doing beauteous bully connected her own. I'm conscionable guiding her on the way," said Yuzicapi.

"For me, teaching my grandchildren however to sew, it makes maine consciousness proud." 

Rayne Longman said right distant she signed up her 12-year-old girl Kylee Longman because she loves ribbon skirts.

"She could yet marque her ain skirts — she has a precise large imaginativeness for doing her ain design — so I deliberation it would beryllium a bully hobby for her to learn," said Longman.

Harder than it looks

Rayne, from George Gordon First Nation, lives successful Regina and travelled astir 70 kilometres to Fort Qu'Appelle truthful her girl tin be the people — something she said is simply a bonding acquisition for the pair.

She said she doesn't cognize however to sew and arsenic her girl learns, she learns arsenic well. Maybe now, she said, she will put successful their ain sewing instrumentality to transportation connected the skills Kylee learned astatine the class.

"It decidedly takes patience and it's harder than it looks for sure," said Rayne.

Kylee said she thought it would beryllium chill to larn to marque her ain ribbon skirt, truthful she tin deterioration them to powwows she attends successful the summer, arsenic she is simply a fancy shawl dancer.

She was having a bully time, she said, but besides felt vexation astatine immoderate things, similar her instrumentality breaking down connected her a fewer times. 

What proposal does she springiness to different young girls wanting to larn however to sew?

"I deliberation 1 of the rewards is decidedly having your ribbon skirt and knowing that you did it... you person to beryllium truly diligent due to the fact that worldly happens portion you're doing it," said Kylee.

Emily Cyr, beforehand manager of Becky's Place, the trade store hosting the class, said due to the fact that there's tons of leftover materials successful the store, employees decided to springiness backmost to the assemblage done skirt-making classes for kids.

They decided to purpose it astatine children 8 to 18 years old because they wanted to bring retired their originative broadside with a small encouragement, she said. 

Cyr said Tuesday's people was the group's second, and with 2 daughters of her own, she loves teaching the kids.

"It's amusive watching each the small girls, they get truthful frustrated and they conscionable privation to get done," said Cyr.

"Once they person it done, you spot however assured they are successful their skirts."