Our church has been around for over 40 years or so and in that time no one has washed a single vestment. We have a temporary priest in house who noticed the poor condition of the vestments as the elder priest now has dementia.
So with the Adoration on Lent Sundays the humeral veil was in the state of a mess. Tarnished clasp, smelly neckband, stains from a leaky roof onto the fabric and threadbare silk and fringe.
The fringe is falling apart.
The original rayon satin fabric is shredding and has to be replaced. Our small Ozark mission church does not have the funds to replace these vestments. So I offered to repair them as I repair and restore antique textiles
The original clasp is missing gold leaf.
Poly fringe is tattered.
My plan was to cut out the original brocade, turn under and applique to the new fabric of the veil.
But the brocade was shedding. I also was pressed for time. There are no fabrics stores nearby nor on-line that carry this brocade.
So I took it all apart and began to salvage the brocade.
Now I remove stitches and flip the brocade over to use the wrong side of the brocade for the new veil.
The wrong side looks great.
glue removal
I used tulle to give the fibers strength.
Newly leafed clips on the new fabric next to the old ones. I have real gold leaf paint and I sealed with shellac all done outside as the fumes are combustible.
pinning on the old brocade on the new fabric.
Sewing it down
Since my studio has a wood stove and cats, I have to cover everything with muslin and clean every surface. I do not want soot and cat fur on this very ivory fabric.
hand sewing the veil clips
I was able to match the fringe.
The original brocade of the newly sewn veil.
All set to go again. All the scraps from the old humeral veil were collected and put in a bag and given to the priest to burn. These are holy things and must be treated with respect. The new veil was blessed the next day in time for the Adoration. This was the fastest restoration I have ever done.
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