Lake Harbour (Feb 28/05) - Inside a portable classroom outside of Qaqqalik school in Kimmirut, 12 ladies are sewing and laughing, trying their best to craft their very own seal skin pants and slippers.

The women concentrate hard on the shiny grey skins they are slowly but surely turning into wearable and warm works of art.

"It's great," said participant Pascale Baillargeon. "We're learning new skills, which is very valuable."

The group of ladies meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-10 p.m. at the portable.

During the week on Wednesday afternoons there is more sewing for ladies who want to get some extra work done on their seal skin and other projects.

Besides ending up with beautiful, waterproof pants to wear all winter long, Baillargeon said it is fun to get together with other women, Inuit and non-Inuit, outside the work environment.

"We have fun, as you can see in the pictures," she said.

The sewing group is funded by the Masiit Group initiative.

In other years, the traditionally-focused group has worked with different kinds of skin, making everything from mitts to kamiiks.

The response to the program has been overwhelming, Jeannie Padluq, one of the instructors said.

"They are very good," Padluq said of the participants who are just learning the art.

Padluq isn't just showing the participants how it's done, she's also taking the opportunity to work on a couple of her own projects, including seal skin pants for her husband Eliyah.Ooleepika Sagiatuk, left, and Katie Lyta show off their completed seal skin pants.