New Pall

The Guild of St Clare was commissioned to make a new black pall for use with a small catafalque at Requiems. This was completed just in time for the Traditional Sung Requiem for deceased members of St Benet's Hall, Oxford, the Benedictine house of study, which is now an annual event.

The new pall in use in the small chapel of St Benet's. The celebrant is Fr Edward Van den Bergh, of the London Oratory and also an alumnus of the Hall.

The pall was made with silk dupion from Beckford Silk and trimmed with brocade from Vanpoulles. More photos can be viewed on Joseph Shaw's Flickr page.

Forthcoming Events for 2014

The Guild of St Clare is holding two training events in the first half of 2014 (more will follow).

First, on Saturday, 22nd February, there will be a Goldwork Day, held in Oxford at the church hall of St Anthony of Padua in Headington. The tutor is Sarah Rakestraw from Golden Hinde, and the cost is £40 per person plus materials.









Second, on Saturday, 12th April, we are having a bobbin lace making day for beginners, also in Oxford, at The Fibreworks in the Cowley Road. The price for this is also £40.









Places for both these courses are extremely limited so please make sure you book in good time! Email lucyashaw@gmail.com to reserve your place.

The Guild of St Clare at Towards Advent

The Guild of St Clare is at the Towards Advent fair today!

We are selling embroidery kits, Christmas decorations, vintage tea cups and Ceri's ever popular cake pops!




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Gold Altar Frontal for St Alphege's

The gold altar frontal, commissioned for the church of St Alphege’s in Bath, has now been completed. It is made with silk from the Gainsborough Silk Weaving Company, a Suffolk-based company which specialises in the replica of historical fabrics, and lined with white Irish linen. Here you can see the before and after photos.

The very plain forward altar

The altar with its new gold altar frontal

The church still requires altar frontals in four other colours, so watch this space for more!

New Banner by the LMS Treasurer

The LMS is very fortunate to have an enthusiastic needleworker in its treasurer, the indefatigable Paul Waddington. Here is his most recent creation - a banner for the Latin Mass Society. He assures the Guild of St Clare that he has already begun work on a new one - we can't wait to see it!

First banner by Paul Waddington

New commission

The Guild of St Clare is delighted to have been commissioned to create a set of altar frontals for the beautiful church of St Alphege in Bath.

The church was designed by Gilbert Scott and completed in the 1920s. It was featured in A Glimpse of Heaven by Christopher Martin. More recently, a new book has been written about it, called Our Lady and St Alphege, Bath: Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's Little Gem of a Church, by Caroline Shaw (spot the family connection!)

We are very excited to have been called on to assist with beautifying the interior of the church. We hope to complete our first frontal (appropriately, a gold one) by June.

Exciting new acquisition!

Thanks to the generosity of the St Catherine's Trust, the Guild of St Clare has some exciting acquisitions - three beautiful Brother Innovis Anniversary sewing machines.

They're pink! And they're not bad at sewing either

They have a total of 16 stitches, an automatic needle threading system (anyone who has struggled trying to thread machine needles by hand will know this is good news), and best of all a speed limiter, so the machine doesn't run away with its user! The machines will be used for teaching children at the Guild of St Clare children's chapter meetings and also at the St Catherine's Trust Summer School. They will also be available for loan to ladies doing sewing for liturgical purposes.