Debra Chevrier Polson

Debra Chevrier Polson, or Debbie to her close friends, was born in Notre-Dame-du-Nord, into a family of 11 children. Entirely devoted to her art, she took part in sewing classes in the 1970s to “learn her culture”. Since then, she has been making mittens, moccasins, ribbon shirts and skirts tailored to measure. Each item is carefully hand-finished and adorned with beads according to the requests of her various customers.  

“I’m really proud of what I do because I learnt a lot growing up, but I always was a person that could take a challenge.”

Debra’s mother was a passionate moccasin maker. In her early days, Debra specialized in making ornate mittens. Shortly before her death, Debra’s mother said to her, “You’re going to make moccasins!” Her destiny had spoken. Debra’s daughter is also following in the footsteps of the women who preceded her, as today she sews traditional skirts.   

“My grandmother Juliette was also a seamstress, sewing for everyone, wedding dresses. You’d show her a photo, she’d take your measurements and make the dress without a pattern. People would cut out a catalog photo and say, “That’s what I want!” There was nothing she could not do!”

In Debra’s family, crafting is an activity handed down from mother to daughter. 

Debra Chevrier Polson is a full-time craftswoman, but not without having practiced other trades in the past. She has worked in hairdressing, grooming and cooking (she even had to feed Queen Elizabeth as part of her duties!), but always coming back to handicrafts. Passionate about highlighting and mixing colors, Debra is proud of her products. Her head is always full of projects, and she takes advantage of the concentration that sewing brings to visualize them.   

“I want people to know that we’re here and that there is people that still do handcrafted things. All done handmade, handcrafted, I think that’s the best you can get. It means more to people when they know it’s done by a first nation person, all handcrafted.”

Debra is a kind-hearted woman with a contagious smile, and you’ll be charmed not only by the finesse of her art, but by her engaging personality.