Latin Mass Society

Guild of St Clare

Sewing Retreat

The Guild blog can be seen here

Guild of St Clare Newsletter




Faciesque vestem sanctam fratri tuo in gloriam et decorum. (Exodus 28:2)
And thou shalt make a holy vesture for Aaron, thy brother, for glory and for beauty.


What is it all about?

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, to pass on the skills necessary for this, and to promote domestic sewing.

The Guild is affiliated with the Latin Mass Society and its spiritual patron is St Clare of Assisi, who, like many female religious over the centuries, made liturgical vestments.


Sewing Retreats

Sewing RetreatThe Guild currently runs two Sewing Retreats each year, where liturgical sewing is combined with spiritual talks and the Traditional liturgy, one in the Spring and one in the Autumn. They currently take place at the St Joseph Pastoral Centre, Ashurst, near Southampton.

For details of forthcoming Retreats, see Mass of Ages, the LMS Events Calendar, the Guild of St Clare blog, or join the email list.

 


Vestment mending days

Vestment Mending Days

Each year the Guild of St Clare organises five or six Vestment Mending days in London, on Saturdays. These focus mainly on the Latin Mass Society’s own vestment collection, which includes many worn-out vestments and incomplete sets, which have been donated to the Society over the years. The Guild is gradually making these available once more for the Traditional liturgy.

These sessions provide a fruitful learning opportunity for stitchers of all levels, providing a wide range of tasks.

These days run in parallel with Server Training organised by the Society of St Tarcisius.

For details of forthcoming Vestment Mending Days, see Mass of Ages, the LMS Events Calendar, the Guild of St Clare blog, or join the email list.

Booking is required because space is limited; there is no fee.


Local Chapters

 

In addition to the nationally-organised events, there are regular sewing meetings organised by the Guild’s local chapters. There are currently chapters based in:

  • South London
  • Oxford
  • Manchester
  • Withermarsh Green (between Colchester and Ipswich)

 

The Guild is delighted to support the creation of new chapters, and can put anyone interested in touch with any of these groups.

To get in touch with any local groups, please email the National Coordinator, Lucy Shaw lucyashaw@gmail.com.


The Guild and the Royal Society of Needlework

The Royal School of Needlework (RSN) was established in 1872 to revive, employ, and pass on historic hand embroidery and related skills. As well as conservation work for museums, they make and repair liturgical items for major churches and undertake commissions from the Royal Family. The RSN represents the gold standard both in terms of the authenticity of historic techniques, and the high level of skills successful completion of its courses implies.

Many Guild members have done training with the RSN, including the Certificate and Diploma, and are on hand at Guild events to advise and teach others as necessary.

To make these skills more widely available for the Guild’s projects, the Guild encourages members to train with the RSN. In particular:

RSN Sponsorship Scheme: The Guild sponsors one or two students each year to begin the Certificate Course. The sponsorship scheme is advertised online and in Mass of Ages each Spring; the deadline for applications is in late June, so students can start the course in September. The Certificate Course is highly flexible and can be done at whatever pace fits in with a student’s other commitments. It can be done at the RSN headquarters at Hampton Court in West London, or at its satellite centres in different parts of the country.

Annual Training Day at Hampton Court: The Guild organises an annual one-day course through the RSN in a technique especially useful to members. Recent years have seen a course in ecclesiastical embroidery, burse-making, and in making a quarter-scale chasuble. During the Covid lockdown the Guild organised an online stole-making course.

These events take place in the early spring, and are advertised in Mass of Ages, on the LMS Events Calendar and the Guild of St Clare blog, and through the email list.

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