Liturgical fabrics. Just the mere thought of the word forms vivid images in our minds of rich, elegant, and often luxurious textiles use for the creation of church vestments and altar frontals. These special Ecclesiastical Fabrics, used for the making of pastoral stoles and chasubles, copes and miters, dalmatics and tunics, are often woven in intricate patterns, using special yarns of silks, rayons, and even threads of gold and silver. We look at a stunning Liturgical Fabric, such as this pattern called Wakefield, and what does one see? A fabric… Read more Liturgical Fabrics →
Working through the process of creating a new collection of Ecclesiastical hand embroidery designs is always a challenge. The past few days have seen continued work on a Fleur de lis liturgical hand embroidery design. The goal is hopefully to create a Liturgical embroidery design collection suitable for use on a variety of church linens and church vestments. The nice thing about continuing to work on a specific design over an extended period of time is that the design often (but not always) improves. It becomes refined, and clarified. It… Read more Liturgical Embroidery Designs: Continuing the Process →
Summer is so shorted lived in Minnesota. It is hard to be inside working on the Liturgical Embroidery Designs when the sky is sunny, and the evenings are pleasant. Of… Read more Liturgical Embroidery Designs Phase 2 →
Summer has finally arrived in Northern Minnesota, and the last week was a little wild in many ways. The past week saw a severe storm in our area that caused… Read more Liturgical Embroidery Design →
There are several whitework altar linen projects waiting in the wings in what has now become the Ecclesiastical Sewing workroom. Church vestment pattern making is going full steam at the moment, and you know what a job pattern making does to the workroom. There are papers of all sizes, rulers and markers, pencils and tape scattered a muck. Yikes! Try as one might, disorder reigns during the pattern making process. One pattern making project, a monastic choir alb, is almost at the point of completion. Pattern making is a process… Read more Whitework Altar Linens →
Altar Linen Hand Embroidery Designs have been floating all over the place recently in the Ecclesiastical Sewing Studio. The designs all come from a collection of vintage perforated patterns that… Read more Altar Linen Projects – Beginnings →
Church banners come in many shapes, and sizes, colors and designs. Indays gone by, church banners were rendered in detailed and elaborate Ecclesiastical Embroidery designs such as the Great Processional Banner at York Minster, which makes them works of art in themselves.When looking though books which document the history of Ecclesiastical Sewing, the lavish use of hand embroidery on banners was quite common. Church banners received the same care and attention as did altar frontals and Church Vestments such as stoles, copes and chasubles. In the book Church Embroidery and… Read more St. Ignatius Mission Banners →
Summer vacations always include at least one stop related to Ecclesiastical Sewing. This year’s trip included a stop at the St. Ignatius Mission. The Mission is in the tiny town of St. Ignatius, MT, at the southern edge of Flathead Lake, and about forty miles north of Missoula. This is one of those remote churches that have been on the “Must See” list. With a trip to Glacier Park, it was the perfect time to visit. For those interested in seeing the inside of a beautiful church, the St. Ignatius… Read more Frontal at St. Ignatius Mission →
For all of you patiently waiting for a new post, never fear. The Ecclesiastical Sewing blog has not dropped off the face of the planet….or at least not quite. I have been enjoying a few weeks off with family, visiting some remote places that are nearly off the map. Fortunately, I have found my way out of the back country of Glacier Park and will be back to work posting new Ecclesiastical Sewing Projects next week. Until then, happy summer. Solo Dei Gloria Be sure to visit our online store… Read more Back to Ecclesiastical Projects – Soon →
