Ecclesiastical Sewing

10/29/2026

As a rule, a priest says one Mass a day. On All Souls' Day he may say three.

The reason is what the Church believes about the dead: they can still be helped by our prayers, and above all by the Mass.

The custom began with Dominican friars in Spain in the 1400s, and for centuries it stayed in Spain, Portugal and their lands. Then came the First World War. In 1915, with graves filling across Europe and many Masses once endowed for the dead no longer being said, Pope Benedict XV gave the privilege to every priest: one Mass for any intention, one for all the faithful departed, strangers included, and one for the intentions of the Pope.

All Souls falls on Monday, November 2 this year, and black is still permitted at Masses for the dead.

Will your priest wear it?

10/29/2026

10/29/2026

Lining or interfacing? If you're sewing your first stole, here's why you need to know the difference.

Both go inside a stole, but they do different jobs.

Interfacing gives the stole support.

Medium-weight cotton canvas is one option used beneath the outer fabric to help the stole hold its shape. The amount of support needed depends on the fabric you're working with.

Lining finishes the inside of the stole.

Cotton, broadcloth, satin, and cotton sateen are some lining options. The lining covers the inside construction and gives the back of the stole a neat finish.

When sewing the lining, make sure it lies smoothly. If it's too tight, it can pull against the outer fabric and cause wrinkles or puckering.

Before choosing materials for your first stole, remember:

Interfacing – helps the stole hold its shape.

Lining – gives the inside a neat finish.

Both may be hidden when the stole is finished, but they serve different purposes.

Knowing what each layer does can help you make better fabric choices before you begin sewing.

10/28/2026

The Church still asks for a plate under your chin at Communion.

It is the Communion plate: a small gold plate a server holds beneath each person's chin as they receive. The Vatican's 2004 instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum says it should be retained, "so as to avoid the danger of the sacred host or some fragment of it falling."

The reason is what the Church believes even a crumb is. Christ is present whole in every part of the consecrated host.

Before the plate there was a cloth. The old Roman Ritual asked for a clean white linen cloth held before the communicants, and in time it was fastened along the communion rail and turned over the top before Communion. The plate spread from the late 1800s and became the rule in 1929.

Does your parish still use one?

10/28/2026

What could a Roman senator's tunic have in common with a church dalmatic?

Start by looking at the long decorative stripes.

The Romans called these stripes clavi. They were used to decorate tunics, and in certain periods, their width could indicate social rank.

A broad stripe, known as the latus clavus, was associated with senators.

Narrower stripes, called angusti clavi, were associated with members of the equestrian order.

But these stripes didn't always carry the same meaning.

Over time, narrow clavi became a fashionable feature of Roman clothing, rather than a decoration reserved for a particular rank.

So how does this connect to church vestments?

The dalmatic was worn in ancient Rome before it became part of Christian worship.

As the dalmatic became associated with the clergy, its decorative clavi were retained.

And the tradition of long decorative bands remained visible in later vestments.

Some medieval dalmatics featured elaborate gold bands running down the front and back. By the fifteenth century, these decorations could include richly embroidered orphreys.

Clavi and orphreys aren't simply two names for the same thing, but their placement shows an interesting connection between Roman clothing and later vestment decoration.

So the next time you see a historical dalmatic, look closely at those vertical bands.

They may reveal a clothing tradition with roots in ancient Rome.

Save this post for your next vestment history reference, and share it with another church vestment maker who might enjoy learning about the history behind these decorations.

10/27/2026

After Communion, the priest drinks the water he rinsed the cup with.

It is in the rules for every Mass. The chalice is purified with water, or with w**e and water, and whoever purifies it drinks it. Any crumbs on the paten are brushed into the cup first.

The reason is what the Church believes is in that cup. Christ is present whole in every part of the consecrated bread and w**e, down to a crumb and a drop.

Until 1967 a priest kept his thumbs and forefingers pressed together from the consecration until this rinse, so that no particle could fall. Then w**e and water were poured over those fingers into the chalice, and he drank that too.

Watch the cup after Communion at your next Mass.

10/27/2026

Isn't it amazing that chasubles made hundreds of years ago are still here for us to see?

These historic chasubles date from the 15th to 18th centuries. The embroidery, rich fabrics, and different shapes give us a closer look at how vestments were made during those years.

As ecclesiastical sewers, we're especially interested in the way the embroidery is arranged, the choice of fabric, and how each chasuble is constructed.

We've also included two fiddleback chasubles we've made ourselves. You can see how this traditional style is still being made today, alongside examples from centuries ago.

Have you seen an old fiddleback chasuble in your church? Is it still used for Mass, or has it been kept in the sacristy?

📷Historical chasubles: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The last two photos show fiddleback chasubles we've made.

10/26/2026

Forty days of penance. For one drop from the chalice, spilled on the floor.

That was medieval church law, and Thomas Aquinas quotes it in the Summa. If a drop fell on a wooden floor, it was taken up with the tongue and the board was scraped. If it fell on bare ground, the ground was scraped, the scrapings were burned, and the ashes were buried inside the altar. The priest did forty days of penance. If the drop stayed on the altar, three days.

The old Roman Missal dropped the penances and kept the care. The drop licked up, the place scraped, the scrapings burned, the ashes put down the sacrarium. A cloth it touched was washed three times, with the chalice held underneath.

The reason is what the Church believes that drop is. The Blood of Christ.

It is also why an altar wore three cloths. The custom probably began in the ninth century and was the rule into the 1960s: two lower cloths covering the top of the altar, and a third hanging to the step at both ends. The old Catholic Encyclopedia gives the reason plainly. If the Precious Blood were spilled, the cloths would absorb it before it reached the altar stone.

And today? The place is washed with water, and the water is poured into the sacrarium, the drain that runs into the earth. A stained altar linen is rinsed by hand first, and that first water goes into the sacrarium or into the ground. Then it is washed in the usual way.

Have you ever seen a chalice spill?

10/26/2026

Saturday night begins three days that go together: Halloween, All Saints and All Souls. Together they've long been called Allhallowtide.

All three are about one line in the Apostles' Creed: "I believe in the communion of saints." One family, the living and the dead, together in Christ.

It starts Saturday night with All Hallows' Eve, the night before All Saints. All Saints, on Sunday, honors the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us in faith (Hebrews 12:1). All Souls, on Monday, remembers the faithful departed: the people we've loved and lost.

Three days, one line of the Creed. I believe in the communion of saints.

10/26/2026

A priest and a deacon may wear the same kind of vestment, but not in the same way.

Take the stole, for example.

A priest wears it around the neck, with both ends hanging down the front. A deacon wears it over the left shoulder, crossing toward the right side.

You may have seen this many times in church without giving it much thought.

But did you know the stole wasn't always called a stole?

In the early Western Church, it was known as the orarium. The name stole became more common around the ninth century.

Even its shape has changed over time. Some medieval stoles were long and narrow, while later designs had wider ends.

Today, the alb, stole, chasuble, dalmatic, and cope are still part of worship in many Christian churches, although their use varies by denomination.

And for anyone who sews or cares for church vestments, knowing these differences is helpful. How a vestment is worn affects its shape, fit, and construction.

There's quite a bit of history behind the vestments we see in church.

Know someone who sews or looks after church vestments? This is worth sharing with them.