Sewing is my passion. I took up needle and thread at the tender age of eight, and fell in love with the craft in my early teens. That craft blossomed as I continued my education, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Costume Design.
In my early college days, I was introduced to the art of vestment making. Working with needle and thread, fabric and trims to make beautiful vestment and inspire and encourage others to use their skills in service for the Lord's House is now my heart's desire.
Violet is a favorite color that is used once or twice during the church year. The seasons of violet are Advent and Lent, the Penitential Seasons. Many other colors fall under the “umbrella” of the Penitential color Violet. These include Roman purple, rose, and blue. Black and scarlet may also be included in the group of colors. Violet has been used for a long time as a color for church vestments.
Ecclesiastical Sewing, offering a nice range of assorted fabrics in a wide range of price points for use in making church vestments and altar hangings. Our liturgical Brocade, Damask, Lurex brocades, and Tapestry Church vestment fabrics are imported from the United Kingdom. The designs and patterns used in the fabrics come from a wide range of sources, which include historical paintings, fabrics, and Frescoes. Other fabric designs are patterns that were created by well-known church designers in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Finishing stole ends can be done in various ways, but let’s focus on mitered corners. After folding and pressing the sides and bottoms, create a little triangle at the corner. Pin the edges at the miter and start lacing. Anchor the thread with small stitches and then take staggered stitches along the fold, ensuring edges won’t separate. Continue lacing to the end, then stitch back up. Though mitered corners can be challenging, practicing can lead to beautiful finishes.
Liturgical brocades like St. Aidan and Cloister. These fabrics, ideal for both church vestments and academic wear, offer a subtle yet elegant design. St. Aidan comes in various colors corresponding to church seasons and academic degrees, while Cloister features a thistle and rose motif. These piece-dyed brocades are suitable for pastoral stoles and chasubles, allowing for creative design details like lightweight embroidery or orphrey bands.
The gift of a stole is always something to be appreciated. To help with that, we have developed a variety of stole patterns. There is a 3 1/2-inch stole as well as a 4 1/2-inch stole. The lines of these stoles are identical. It is the width that is different. The stoles have a gently shaped neckline that fits well and then falls from the shoulder. The stoles are adjustable in length. The short length is 51 inches, and the longest length is 55 inches. The tapered stole has the same neckline curve as our other stoles. It then falls to a wider width at the lower end. The stole is available in a short length that works with a full surplice or a longer length. And the V-neck stole a wider stole that uses the same width down the length of the entire stole.
When creating vestments for the House of the Lord, one should always begin with the advice of a pastor. A good place to start is with meaningful symbols that can be used to teach the faith. Things like the Cross, Holy Communion, the Creeds, Prayer, Baptism, Confession, Key to the Kingdom, Holy Monograms, and so forth are appropriate symbols to start with. The symbols can be simple, and in many places that creates a comfort zone. The symbols can also be a bit more elaborate. That sometimes gets beyond the comfort zone of some and into unfamiliar territory for others.
The third special post in July recounts summer travels to Montana, It reflects on the beauty of old, weathered stumps in various locations, contemplating the possibility of life lingering within them. The lush greenery and surviving stump found on the Lohn’s Lake Trail inspire hope and reflection on promises from days of old. As a reference to the O Antiphon “O Root of Jesse,” connecting the natural surroundings with deeper reflections.
The slate frame, available in various sizes, creates a secure foundation for embroidery, with fabric tightly stretched using twill tape and lacing. To make the embroidery process more comfortable, trestle stands hold the slate frame at an adjustable height, allowing for hands-free stitching.
Ecclesiastical Sewing’s newest release of the “Stole Style #3 in the Luther Rose Brocade” is a good example. It is not simply gorgeous – it is confessional. The embroidery is not a random collection of pretty designs. In this case, they are symbolic of the Six Chief Parts.
A scrollwork cross. The cross is a creation taken from part of the vintage embroidery designs. This cross is similar to many vintage hand embroidery designs. Satin stitch would be nice around the center diamond shape and the four dots just outside of that. The Scrollwork could be an outline or stem stitch or trailing stitch. The tiny tendrils could be back-stitched or a small stem stitch. The three clover shapes at the cross ends could be stem stitched and filled with seed stitch or satin stitched. The very center of the large diamond could also be filled with seed stitches. It would take only about 3 or 4 stitches to work this little design up.
We enter a season filled with green trees and grass dotted with bright pink, purple, red, and white the flowers blooming profusely all around us. One glance around nature provides a feast of green shades for the eye to behold. It brings the entire world to life. Green is also the color for ordinary times in the church years. With the long Trinity Season or the “Green” Season just getting underway in the church year.
The tradition within the church is to use a Pall to cover the coffin for funerals. At the time of Pugin (early to mid-1800s), Palls were elaborate items, often embellished with extensive embroidery and gold work. Palls are still used today to cover a coffin during a funeral service. They are frequently white in color with a cross or other appropriate design applied. While churches may own a Pall for covering a coffin, they may not have a pall for covering an urn. The use of urns to replace large coffins is becoming more common.
The chasuble pattern is a graceful Monastic style chasuble that is wide, full, and long. The pattern is created in several sizes and has things like lengthening and shortening lines for further customization. The pattern has notches for matching seams when sewing. There is a separate pattern piece for the front and back orphrey band as well as a neckline facing piece.
The fabric is block-cut to a rough size, review the embroidery design and dimensions determine the embroidery placement, and locate the center. Once the center position is determined, use a product called Dream Weave Ultra and fuse that to the back of our fabric. Dream Weave Ultra is a fusible tricot that adds a bit of body to a piece of fabric. Dream Weave comes in two weights – the regular, and the Ultra. Used both but prefer the Ultra for our embroidery work. Dream Weave should never be used as a stand-alone backing for embroidery.
The Ecclesiastical Sewing Family’s Easter in 2017 and a special church project. Dossal curtain – Dossals, traditionally adorned with intricate embroideries, like the Lanercost Dossal. Tailored to fit sanctuary dimensions, for instance, is 88” wide and 124” long, complementing stained glass. A captivating coincidence forms a cross with the dossal and stained glass, as seen in the Good Friday dossal, the dossal and the stained glass make a cross on the back wall behind the big wooden cross.
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