Comments on: The Broderers At St Paul’s

By: Rev Dr Moira McCutcheon

Rev Dr Moira McCutcheon — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 13:24:33 +0000

Thank you for this wonderful embroidery work. At St John on Bethnal Green, one of our altar servers is attempting to repair gold stitching on an altar frontal I wonder if it might be at all possible to seek your expert advice please. Many grateful thanks Moira Rev Dr M.McCutcheon

By: Hélène

Hélène — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 15:43:36 +0000

Absolutely beautiful. Very skilful ladies. Thanks.

By: Cherub

Cherub — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 13:20:36 +0000

I hope these skills will last well into the future as so much is being lost now. Such beautifully executed work. I love looking at religious garments in museums wherever I travel to in the world.
When I visited The Citadel on the island of Gozo a few years ago I was fascinated by the ladies there who hand made lace on bobbins and I bought some very lovely pieces of linen trimmed with it, my favourite is a bookmark.

By: paul loften

paul loften — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 12:47:04 +0000

Where else could we get such intricate and finely woven stories so well written, researched and photographed. Who would have thought such a skilled team existed in the hidden recesses of St Pauls . We are truly privileged . Thank you GA and Sarah

My mother was a hand embroider at a court dressmaker Madame Hettie’s off Oxford Street in the 1930’s . It was a completely different world to the rarefied atmosphere of St Pauls . It was a West End sweatshop of tough Jewish business men , pressers , machinists and hand embroiders , mainly recruited from Spitalfields and she sometimes told us tales about the goings on .

Such skilled ladies deserve appreciation. There are not many doing this sort of work nowadays .

By: Lynne Perrella

Lynne Perrella — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 12:05:59 +0000

What a great way to begin the day — Reading Spitalfields Life! I can feel my mind expanding
while my eyes are treated to photos by Sarah Ainslie. These images and stories absolutely radiated with the sense of community and tradition these women share.

Many years ago, I took a one-day workshop with a well-known American quilter. Although the topic of the workshop was mixed-media shrine-making, she talked about her process of quilting while we worked on our shrines. She mused that all of her hopes and woes were transmitted through her fingers, into the hand-quilted textiles she made. I often think of her words, and value the reverie that overtakes me when I am in the art-making process.

Congratulations to these “broderers” (a new term for me……..) for bringing their gifted
hands to these historic vestments.

By: Helen Breen

Helen Breen — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 11:52:45 +0000

Greetings from Boston,

GA, great story and pics of these devoted needlewomen. They must be in great shape. I presume that they must access their workroom after ascending scores of stairs each day. God bless them…

By: ann marie howden

ann marie howden — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 10:39:40 +0000

thank you to the Author and the wonderful ladies who dedicate their skills to such beautiful church garments and all things ecclesiastical …..i fully understand how long these items take to prepare design and stitch by hand and all the wonderful skills needed …..if only i lived nearby.
thanking you all

By: Kelly Holman

Kelly Holman — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 09:42:38 +0000

Wonderful! Such fantastic skill and such modesty. I am in awe.

By: Cynthia Grant

Cynthia Grant — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 09:33:58 +0000

I love the reference to the amazing haberdashers of Aleppo. This is where I got my love of embroidery from, via my Syrian mother.

By: Mathilde Grange

Mathilde Grange — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 08:23:00 +0000

I had no idea that there were broderers still. I always thought chasubles and such were machine embroidered now. I’m going to try and find out if there are broderers in other parts ofEurope, at least in Spain and Italy. Thank you, dear G.A.