Why one Winnipeg woman is making mittens in July

Though it’s the end July and mittens are the last thing most people want to think about, for one Winnipeg woman, making sure people stay warm this upcoming winter is at the forefront of her mind.

Sheila Cailleau, the owner of Magpie Chiq, founded the Warm Hands, Warm Hearts project, an initiative helping to give the city’s most vulnerable a warm pair of mittens for when Winnipeg’s temperatures drop.

“My business is to make mitts and sell them. I found that as I’m driving in the wintertime, pulling up to a stoplight, there’s always a person who’s so cold on the median,” she said in an interview with CTV Morning Live on Wednesday.

Cailleau even keeps a supply of mittens in her car to give out to those in need.

“I’ve even given them off of my hands. This person was so cold. It isn’t fair. It isn’t okay. So I want to change this one set of hands at a time,” she said.

Cailleau said she’s now looking to create change on a larger scale by using donations of coats, leather, and fur to create cozy and practical mittens.

She noted that she knows people may have memories attached to their old coats, but that the donation of a single coat can help several people.

“I can make, depending on the size of the coat, four to eight pairs of mitts out of one coat,” Cailleau said.

Cailleau said she can understand the struggles of those living on the street. When she was younger, she fell through the cracks of Child and Family Services and at one point experienced homelessness.

“It changes what your priorities are and how you think about what your day’s going to be like,” she said.

“If I can create some ease for somebody by giving them something warm to wear, that’s the best thing I can possibly do with my time, with my gift that I have,” she said.

For those who want to help, Cailleau offers workshops to teach people to make mittens, which are then donated to those in need. Her goal is to have 200 pairs of leather mittens ready for donation by the first snowfall of 2022.

Those interested can contact Magpie Chiq or the Manitoba Craft Council for more information.

- With files from CTV’s Rachel Lagace.