Research, Research, Research

Well, I am physically back from vacation. After loads of laundry and settling back into our routine, I'll be able to pull out the chasuble and take another good look at it.

I have learned from the owner that I am to do what I can to keep it from getting worse-- to get as much more wear out of it that I can at minimal cost. I confess I'll probably do more, because it's a labor of love, and it's the closest I'll ever get to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I am so honored to even touch these garments, and hope the Good Lord will use my hands to truly make a difference.

While I was on vacation, my mind was not idle. I was able to download a couple ancient books from Google regarding the making of vestments that were of great  interest to me. I didn't finish either, but learned a lot.

One was a book written by Anastasia Dolby, and another by Herbert Norris. The latter was only partially available, because it has been republished, and the copyright still exists. These are both about the history of vestment-making, and give patterns for the various pieces as well as embroidery designs and directions.

Another book I found was about fabric weaving. There are three spots on the chasuble that are well worn, and I am curious if I can salvage as much fabric as possible- to save money on new fabric, and preserve the original.

It turns out there are two types of re-weaving fabric: French Weave, and In-weave. With French Weave, you take some threads from the actual fabric in some hidden spot and weave them back into the garment, leaving the ends on the "wrong side" of the fabric. One restriction: the hole has to be smaller than about 1 1/2" in diameter (these are a bi bigger than that). With In-weave, you get a patch of fabric larger than the hole (from a hidden spot, or find some matching fabric) and then weave the loose ends into the fabric, matching the pattern, if any.

When you reweave fabric, you get to wear these cool magnifying goggles and use ultra small needles and hooks. The goggles are sort of like what Belle's father wore in Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

I've been thinking about which parts to tackle first as well. I think I'll do some of the quick fixes first, because, according to financial guru Dave Ramsey (what?!), if you get a lot of little, easy victories in a short timespan, then it'll motivate you towards the larger hurdles.

So, I think some touch up on the embroidery will be first- and yet still challenging. That's okay, I'm always up for a challenge.