Best White Liturgical Fabrics for Easter and Festival Seasons of the Church Year

February 27, 2020

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White and Gold Liturgical Fabrics for Easter and other Festival Seasons of the Church Year

The White and Gold Liturgical Fabrics for Easter and other Festival Seasons of the Church Year:

The range of white church vestment fabrics available at Ecclesiastical Sewing for making church vestments is quite nice. White includes a broad range of colors: creams, ivory, deep cream, and gold. Of course the stunning brocatelles with their shimmering gold highlights!

Easter is the highest festival season in the church year. The ancient churches recognized the importance of this festival even if the church had the plainest of hangings for the altar during the rest of the church year. They made certain that their altars and priests were properly vested for this most special festival season.

Frequently there is a mindset that vestments and altar hangings are “not that important” and they are usually an afterthought receiving little or no attention in far too many churches. This is very sad for so many reasons. While the rest of the church remains unchanged for most of the church year, it is the very fact that vestments and altar hangings change that helps direct and guide the church through the changing seasons of the church year. Wise pastors and altar guild know the value of this and they often use the changing colors as a continual unspoken visual aid to help teach our faith.

Choice of Liturgical Fabrics

The choice of fabrics for creating vestments and altar hangings is a feast for the eyes, and different churches have different needs.

If the setting is a grand church with beautiful stone, woodwork, decorative features, ornate, classic, in a traditional setting, and they use a traditional worship service, I might select one of the silk damask fabrics such as Chelmsford, St. Nicolas, or Bramfield. Before a final decision was made on any of these fabrics, I would also take them into account. Whether the fabric was being used on a large high altar, a small side altar, a stole, or a cope. St. Nicolas is a lovely damask, but because it is large, it is best suited for a larger altar, cope, and the like. That is not to say it could not be made into a handsome stole, but rather as a consideration for a finished vestment that best shows off the large-scale of the pattern. Many other fabrics would be the perfect choice or selection for that setting such as Fairford, St. Margaret, and Lichfield. And of course, all of these fabrics create stunning vestments such as chasuble and stoles and mass sets which include burse, veil, and maniple.

If the place of worship were a small chapel or a mission church with a limited budget, I might favor Cloister, St. Aidan, and Ely Crown. Again, the small church could select a silk damask such as the Ivory Tudor Rose but the fabric might use up an entire budget in this case and not allow for any trim or decoration.

Also, consider embellishment as it relates to the proportions of the space and pieces being created. We are available to assist you with your design questions – both for the Do-it-yourself and for custom-made and Bespoke Vestments.

Things to consider in selecting Liturgical Fabrics

To summarize, consider the following points when selecting a liturgical fabric:

Setting, location, or item the fabric will be used on.
Scale and size of the space or article being made.
Budget
Additional design details such as embellishments, hand or machine embroidery, orphrey, galloon, and the like so all pieces complement each other.

All of the liturgical fabrics are available through the Ecclesiastical Sewing online front found HERE.

Carlisle is a nice fabric for white rose such as albs and surplices as well as chasubles and stoles.

Solo Dei Gloria

Be sure to visit our online storefront Ecclesiastical Sewing where you may shop for Liturgical Fabrics, altar linen fabrics, church vestment-making patterns, liturgical machine embroidery designs, church vestment trims, notions and so much more. You may also find us on Ecclesiastical Sewing on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Sign up for our mailing list at the bottom of the page on our online storefront and receive a free copy of our Small Linens Booklet as our way of saying thank you for following along.