You'll notice that Mario's hood is pointy. This style of hood is called kukukpaa in Inuktitut, and is characteristic of the Baffin region. Mario's kukukpaa is also fully-functional and can be pulled up to cover his head and ears when it's really cold or snowing.

I somehow managed to finish this parka in the few weeks that I was home for the holidays. It was quite the experience, sitting on the living room floor with my mother, material and fur and paper strewn around us, cutting out tiny sleeves and bodices. It wasn't easy to sew such a small but thick item, and our client wasn't too enthused with all the measuring and fittings. It was, however, a real bonding experience between parent and offspring, as we threaded and coaxed my mum's old powerhouse of a Singer machine into stitching all of these layers together. The passage of knowledge from one generation to the other, the homage to tradition, the creation of a family memory - I had heard so much about the relationship between sewing and kinship during my parka course, and there I was, in a downtown Toronto condo, sharing that history with my own mother (thanks Mummy).

On a more practical note, the completion of Mario's parka by January of this year was fortuitous as he and his fellow Torontonians were about to enter the worst of the polar vortex that saw temperatures below -29C in Canada's largest city. My brother reported back that no matter how cold it was outside, Mario's body was always warm under that parka. And for those of you who are curious, Torontomiut love Mario's Baffin-style parka. When they ask where they can get one just like it, my brother tells them to go to Iqaluit.