Quarter-scale Chasuble Making at the RSN: Report

 The Guild of St Clare held its first Quarter-Scale Chasuble making day at the Royal School of Needlework on 19th March. The course was fully booked, and several participants had travelled long distances to be present. Our tutor, Heather Lewis, is a graduate Apprentice from the Royal School of Needlework, who is now based in York, but made arrangements to come to Hampton Court Palace specially to lead this workshop for us. She is an expert in liturgical needlework, and has taught our workshops at Hampton Court, on ecclesiastical embroidery and, most recently, burse-making.

It was wonderful day learning a truly exciting skill, the one most central to all our work at the Guild of St Clare. Several long-standing members were there, who despite their wealth of experience were keen to attend this ground-breaking course. 

I've made and mended many vestments myself but, as always, there was plenty of new material to learn. The Royal School of Needlework continues to teach the traditional techniques for hand embroidery and construction: every part of the chasuble is made by hand.

 

I was particularly interested to see Heather's technique for attaching braid to the chasuble. This, too, is done by hand: in order to avoid any wrinkles or distortion in the fabric it is kept flat on the table at all times.

It was a great pleasure spending time with the other participants, and thanks to glorious weather we had a fab lunch break together in the sunshine.

Thanks to the success of this occasion we are planning an annual day course at Hampton Court Palace, each one tackling a different skill relevant to liturgical needlework. Next year we hope to do a miniature Cope: look out for updates and information about online booking.

For more photos visit Joseph Shaw's Flickr page

Sponsorship for the Royal School of Needlework Certificate course

A young volunteer making a stole at a Guild event.

Traditional hand embroidery techniques, required for restoration of old vestments and the construction of new ones in the traditional way, was saved from oblivion in England by the Royal School of Needlework (as it soon became), which was founded in 1872. Today the RSN is commissioned to restore antique fabrics for museums and to create things for state occasions, such as the Coronation, as well as private commissions. They pass on these precious skills to new generations of students in their courses. including the skills of traditional vestment-making.

Their Certificate in Hand Embroidery, in which students master four different techniques by doing a project in each one, could be regarded as the entry level for serious work. 

It is, naturally, expensive and time-consuming. The good news is that the Certificate Course is also extremely flexible, making it possible for students to do it at times convenient to them, over a longer of shorter period of time. 

The even better news is that in association with the Latin Mass Society (and a benefactor) the Guild of St Clare is offering sponsorship which will pay up to 50% of the tuition fees.

We have already sponsored two students, who are now nearing the end of the Certificate. This year we will be able to sponsor two students.

The deadline for applications in 24th June 2022.

Making a burse, at a Guild event.

February 2022 Sewing Retreat: Report

 The Guild of St Clare held its eight Sewing Retreat at a new venue, Park Place Pastoral Centre. We moved here in order to be able to expand the numbers, as Douai was no longer able to accommodate very many of us. At Park Place we are back to our usual group size of twenty, which means we can build a happy and close-knit community while also getting through plenty of work. As usual we were fully booked, with participants travelling from all over the country to join in: we had representatives from Scotland, Yorkshire, Withermarsh Green and Kent, to name just a few.

We were very fortunate to have Fr Stephen Morrison OPraem from the Chelmsford Norbertines as our chaplain. Fr Stephen is a great friend of the Guild and has undertaken many repairs and vestment makes of his own. He joined in enthusiastically with the sewing, in addition to giving us spiritual conferences and celebrating daily Mass. His talks were on Our Lady and the virtue of courage: they were very helpful, and also wonderfully consolatory, in what is quite a dark and difficult time for those of us who are attached to the Traditional Mass.

We tackled a number of repairs, including the ongoing work on the Guild of St Clare's own Green Low Mass Set, a gift from Leo Darroch, former president of FIUV. We also began work on various pieces which are needed to make up incomplete Low Mass Sets, including two chalice veils and two humeral veils.

We had the pleasure of a special guest on Friday evening, the film-maker Peter Jones who is probably best-known for his popular YouTube channel, OneofNine, in which he and his wife talk to Catholic families all over the country about their very varied experiences. He has made a documentary for us which brilliantly captures the atmosphere of our retreats.

Our next Sewing Retreat, also to be held at Park Place Pastoral Centre, is in November: places are still available and can be booked online.

To view more photos visit Joseph Shaw's Flickr page

Quarter size chasuble-making day at the Royal School of Needlework

The Guild of St Clare is delighted to announce a new one day course at the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace, making a quarter size Roman chasuble. The tuition will be provided by RSN tutor Heather Lewis, who has led previous Guild of St Clare courses at the Royal School of Needlework in ecclesiastical goldwork, stole-making and burse-making. This is a remarkable opportunity to learn the skills necessary for making a chasuble, using traditional hand-construction techniques.

It will take place on 19th March between 10am and 4pm. The price of the course is £145 including materials. Tea and coffee are provided; you will need to bring a packed lunch, or you can visit one of Hampton Court Palace's cafes.

Places are strictly limited: book now to avoid disappointment.

For more information please email Lucy on lucyashaw@gmail.com, or book through the registration link on the LMS website.

Volunteers sought for our Vestment-Making Drive

The Guild of St Clare has been commissioned to make new pieces for a number of incomplete Low Mass Sets: maniples, chalice veils, burses and stoles. We are looking for volunteers willing to help with this work: materials will of course be provided. For each completed new piece, we will give the maker a discount of 30% to use when booking our twice annual sewing retreats (up to a maximum of 60% off per retreat).

A young member makes a Roman Purple maniple using the traditional soft-mount technique

At the Guild of St Clare we use traditional hand construction techniques to make vestments: if you would like to participate in this scheme, and have no experience of these, we will be happy to show you, and guide you through the project.

Applying braid with a sewing machine

For more information, or to volunteer, please email Lucy at lucyashaw@gmail.com.

Chalice veil and burse made at the first Guild of St Clare Sewing Retreat, for the LMS Red High Mass Set

Member's project: chalice veil & burse

Michael Dennison, a much-valued participant at our most recent Sewing Retreat at Douai Abbey, has recently completed this most accomplished chalice veil and burse as a gift for Fr Mark Naughton. A training exercise for Michael; Christmas come early for Fr Naughton!

Sewing Retreat at Douai

Our most recent sewing retreat took place at Douai over the weekend of 12th-14th November. Douai has reduced the maximum number of retreatants, so we were a small gathering of twelve, including our chaplain Fr Stephen Dunn, who very kindly travelled all the way from Glasgow to be with us. 

We achieved a huge amount of work: two maniples and a chalice veil were among the new pieces which were made, as well as significant repairs to the LMS violet High Mass set, and the patching of the Guild's own green Low Mass set. 

It was a pleasure to welcome several retreatants who were new to sewing, as well as old hands whose skills were very much needed. 

We were also delighted to see both winners of the Guild of St Clare sponsorship scheme to the Royal School of Needlework: the advanced skills they are developing are of material use to the Guild of St Clare.

Our next retreat is 4th-6th February 2022, at a new venue: Park Place Pastoral Centre. Our chaplain is Fr Stephen Morrison, a great friend of the Guild of St Clare. Click here to book online or email Lucy at lucyashaw@gmail.com for more details.

Many thanks to Michael Dennison for the photographs