Contest winner sews custom silapaaq for prime minister

Jennifer Qupanuaq May didn’t receive Mark Carney’s exact body measurements when Makivvik Corp. asked her to make a silapaaq for the prime minister.

Jennifer Qupanuaq May says she was nervous about making a custom silapaaq for Prime Minister Mark Carney in less than a week and with only a vague measurements. (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Qupanuaq May)

“All they told me was that he was a medium large,” May, a Kuujjuaq seamstress who lives in Montreal, said in an interview. “I was so nervous. I was sitting at my sewing machine thinking, ‘I’m never taking orders again.’”

But when Carney appeared in the navy blue silapaaq for the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee meeting on June 30 in Kuujjuaq, it was a perfect fit.

“When I saw him, it fit him so well and he looked proud wearing it,” May said.

Makivvik launched a contest in February to pick designs for the official silapaat for the organization’s executives and board of directors. Each contestant submitted one male and one female design.

Makivvik announced the results in an April 30 Facebook post, with May taking first place and the $15,000 cash prize.

The victory also led to the recent prime ministerial commission, for which she used the same winning design.

“I had less than a week to do it,” May said. “I don’t normally do custom orders. It’s too stressful.”

The appliqué on the silapaaq is of a kakivak, an Inuit spear used for catching fish in shallow waters.

“I wanted to try something new with the men’s design because we always see amazing new designs for women and not much for men,” May said.

As a seamstress for about 30 years, this was a proud moment, she said.

“It was really great that Makivvik decided that the prime minister would be the first one to wear that winning design.”