Visit to Luigi Bevilacqua, Venice

Following the advice of several friends intimate with the small world of vestment making, I paid a visit to the workshop of celebrated textile manufacturers, Luigi Bevilacqua. It is one of the most ancient working weaving mills in Europe, and is still run by the Bevilacqua family.

I was very grateful for the kindness of the staff there in giving me a brief personal tour of their magnificent looms, on which they hand weave their extraordinary fabrics.

This velvet, known as "soprarizzo", featuring the heraldic Bevilacqua lion, is woven by hand. It takes a whole day to make just 30cm. The width from selvedge to selvedge is only 60cm, because it's impractical to hand weave fabrics any wider.

Bevilacqu also produce machine woven fabrics, and these are much wider, and also less expensive.

The fabrics aren't designed specifically for ecclesiastical use, but a number of them are silk brocades, very suitable for church furnishings and vestments.

I particularly loved these leopards, depicted guarding the tree of life.

The small shop attached to the mill has a number of exclusive products made out of these unique fabrics, uncluding bags and notebooks. I satisfied myself with a book of the history of the Bevilacqua company.

I was excited to discover, during my perambulations round Venice, a remarkable shop: Banco Lotto no 10. This outlet sells clothing made to the highest standards by women prisoners on the Giudecca island. Bevilacqua are collaborators with this charitable work. As a a result some of the exquisitely made clothes inside are made from the distinctive Bevilacqua fabrics, such as this patchwork jacket.

In this brief YouTube video, Alberto Bevilacqua movingly describes himself and his colleagues as "the last guardians of an ancient Venetian textile art", a melancholy phrase that will strike a chord with lovers of the Traditional Mass.

Luigi Bevilacqua offer regular tours of their mill; you can email them for details. Their fabrics are also available to order through their British agent Alton-Brooke at Chelsea Harbour.

Fundraising Appeal for our White Cope

Following the launch of our fundraising campaign last week, and thanks to the kindness of our supporters, we may raise enough funds to tackle a project especially close to my heart: the restoration of a beautiful white Cope, given to the Guild of St Clare by Fr Mark Swires of the diocese of Brentwood.

The Cope has a hood, embroidered with a Pelican in her Piety, and orphreys with complementary embroidered floral motifs. The embroidery (mainly stem stitch worked with a chenille thread) is in almost perfect condition. The Pelican has evidently been re-mounted on the fabric, so I think it may originally have decorated an older Cope.

Since the fabric of the body of the Cope is mildewed (the hood and orphreys have miraculously escaped damage), I think the best thing will be to make a new Cope and apply the old hood and orphreys to it. As it happens, at our most recent Sewing Retreat, for the first time we were unable to have Benediction, because there was no white Cope in the sacristy at the retreat centre, and we didn’t have time to find one we could borrow. This therefore seems like an excellent opportunity to expend some of our precious resources in bringing this fabulous white Cope back into use.

We will need approximately 5 metres of fabric, and also 10 metres of braid. The cost of materials will be in the region of £700, and it will take around 25 hours to complete the work. This is a significant outlay for our small apostolate, but by the same token it will be a fitting and permanent memorial of the benefactors who have made it possible. A commemorative label will be stitched inside, asking for prayers for the donors.

To join the fundraising effort, please visit our GoFundMe page. Thank you so much to all our benefactors; you are assured of our prayers.

Invitation for applications for the RSN Sponsorship Scheme

 The Guild of St Clare is delighted to announce that we will shortly be making our annual award of sponsorship on the prestigious Royal School of Needlework Certificate Course. The course teaches four embroidery techniques, and is extremely flexible. Students can study it intensively, or spread it over as much as four years, and the skills learned are essential to the art of making and mending vestments. As a condition of acceptance, successful candidates must take part in at least one Guild of St Clare Sewing Retreat each year.

The Guild of St Clare Dalmatic Making class at the RSN, March 2024

The deadline for applications is 23rd June; we will hold interviews in July. More information, including details on how to apply, can be found here. If you have any questions email Lucy on guildofstclare@lms.org.uk .

Running to raise funds for the Guild of St Clare

 Lucy writes: The work of the Guild of St Clare is growing rapidly, especially through our network of local Chapters; we need money for materials and equipment, and to this end I am running the Oxford Town & Gown 10k on 12th May. 

After the Oxford Half 2023

I last ran this race in 2021, when I managed a time of 58:28; this time, I'm aiming for 60 minutes. If all goes well, I will start preparing for the Oxford Half Marathon in October. Those interested can check my stats on Strava!

Many thanks indeed to all those who support us, both financially and spiritually; we pray for you.

Benediction at the Sewing Retreat, November 2023