About us

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The Guild of St Clare was founded in Oxford in 2009. Its purpose is to repair and make the liturgical vestments necessary for the celebration of the traditional liturgy of the Catholic Church and to pass on the traditional hand sewing skills necessary for this.

The Guild today runs two Sewing Retreats each year, where liturgical sewing is combined with spiritual talks and liturgy, one in the spring and one in the autumn. 

It also runs Vestment Mending Days in London on Saturdays.

We have local chapters around the country.

Everyone is welcome at Guild events: we can find tasks appropriate for all skill levels.

The Guild is affiliated with the Latin Mass Society, which was founded in 1965 to promote traditional Catholic liturgy. The Latin Mass Society is a registered charity, number 248388.

The Guild’s spiritual patron is St Clare of Assisi, who, like many female religious over the centuries, made liturgical vestments.

You can see why we use hand-sewing techniques here.

For Roman Catholic priests who celebrate the Traditional Mass, 

and to Local Representatives of the Latin Mass Society

The Guild would be happy to help explore the options for repairing specific damaged or worn vestments. We can’t promise to do the work ourselves, because of the limitations on our resources, but in any case this will not always be the best option.

We would also be pleased to explore the possibility of establishing a Chapter in your area. See here for more about setting up new Chapters.

The Mistress of the Guild of St Clare is Lucy Shaw. For any enquiry about the Guild, or to support our work, please email her on guildofstclare@lms.org.uk .