Chasuble Patterns for Making Church Vestments

I remember making my first chasuble over 30 years ago. There was nothing available for a chasuble pattern at that time.  The only thing I could use for a chasuble pattern at that time was an existing chasuble from the vestry. The chasuble has a straight shoulder seam and a neckline opening. Somehow, I was able to take that original vestment and make a white chasuble with a Jerusalem Cross in blue and red. The chasuble turned on well and it was worn for years by the pastor of my church at that time.

There was a gap of a few years before once again I explored sewing church linens and making church vestments. I thought it would be nice to purchase a chasuble pattern since I thought I might be making several chasubles. This time, I purchased a chasuble pattern from an online website. Sadly, the pattern was nothing more than a hand tracing in black marker on white paper. The pattern was not full-sized and it had no proper neckline. There was a “hole” for the neckline opening off to the side of the pattern which was supposed to be moved to the appropriate place and then cut to size. The purchase of that chasuble pattern was a disappointment.

The Chasuble Pattern Creation Process

Yet amid that disappointment was born the desire to create a chasuble pattern that had an accurately placed and sized neckline, proper shoulder seams, orphrey bands, and neckline facings. Those familiar with sewing would find this pattern easily usable, and once we write the instructions, it will also be accessible to beginning vestment makers. I did not want others to struggle with trying to make their vestments. To ensure the success of the new pattern, the chasuble pattern project was undertaken with the aid of my professional pattern maker, Kim. She has been making patterns for years, and she is a master at her craft.

After examining a variety of chasuble body styles, we chose to base our first chasuble pattern on a style from a vintage Gothic Chasuble in my collection. Our team of seamstresses tested the chasuble pattern for quality, accuracy, and ease of use before its release for sale. Moreover, our clients played a crucial role in conducting the most important tests.

Overview of the Gothic Chasuble Sewing Pattern.

The Gothic Chasuble pattern body is a delight to sew, thanks to the expertise of our pattern maker. We print the pattern as a full-size pattern on a large white document. The chasuble pattern comes as a multi-sized pattern with a small, medium, and large size.  There are markings on the pattern showing placement for the “Y” orphrey bands at the shoulders. The “Y” orphrey bands are full-sized patterns. The pattern also has neckline-facing pieces. You are free to create this pattern as either a lined or unlined vestment.

The pattern is easily adaptable for different fabric widths by simply adding a seam allowance and sewing a seam at the Center Front and Center Back.

We do not use the tissue paper patterns typical of commercial pattern-making companies for our Ecclesiastical Sewing Church Vestment Patterns. The pattern is toner printed on white paper.  The pattern comes folded in an envelope and it will have wrinkles. So, if those need to be pressed out, please use something such as white tissue paper or parchment paper to protect your iron and your ironing surface. There are other ways of printing the patterns which are more costly and require more piecing with larger designs. For now, this is the most economical way of providing patterns for use in chasuble vestment making So please use care when pressing the pattern pieces.

The Madonna and Child Chasuble

This is a finished chasuble from our Christmas Rose Collection – the Madonna and Child Chasuble – that was created using the Gothic chasuble pattern with the Y orphrey bands.

Our Ecclesiastical Sewing chasuble patterns come with a basic set of instructions that should be easy to understand for an experienced seamstress.

Our clients love the hang and drape of this chasuble, as well as the flexible size options. We hope you will like it too. We are working on creating a more comprehensive set of instructions for the beginning vestment maker and hope to have those available at a future date. Until then, we are available to answer questions by email. Please visit our website to see our complete line of chasuble patterns.

Soli Deo Gloria

Please visit our website at www.ecclesiasticalsewing.com to see our complete line of liturgical fabrics, church vestment patterns, and church vestments. You may also contact us through the online webpage to inquire about custom orders or vestment needs.

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