Q&A: Meet the Guild of St Faith

How would you describe what you do? 

We’ve made and repaired a lot of vestments and hangings. Copes, chasubles, stoles, altar frontals… We’ve done them in gold, we’ve done them in white, red, green, black for funerals.

It is rather satisfying when you start off with a piece of material and end up with a garment. 

We’re not just the ladies who will sew up your hem, but we’ve made everything we need to, so we are doing a lot of mending now. We all come with a past and a history of experience, mostly as tailors and embroiderers, instructors too. One of us has been here over 40 years. One of us has worked in prisons teaching men to embroider.  

Do you have to be a certain kind of person to volunteer here? 

Slightly odd or mad, probably! All the volunteers, most of them are in their 80s. We’ve lost three so far to old age. Younger people don’t have the time to volunteer.

The Abbey will one day have to pay them. A lot of people do textiles at university, but they don’t have the time to do something like this.

Is your craft a dying art?  

Probably. We’d love to carry on, but as you get older it’s the journey that’s the issue. Some of the classes that we used to teach have all been stopped now because colleges haven’t got the money from local authorities to pay them, which is a concern. 

What are your standout moments? 

When the Abbey had a service for King Olav of Norway, all his regalia had to be sewn onto these cushions. There were loads. And we were locked in this room for security.  

One day we grabbed a man who walked past because he was tall and we needed that for a fitting. We almost made him stand on a table. He was very accommodating; we didn’t have to try and lure him in.

What is it about the Abbey that appeals in terms of using your skills? 

Being part of an institution that’s been here for hundreds of years. Not all of us are believers; we do it for ourselves and for the history. 

It’s very flattering to be asked to use our skills in this way. We can give something back. 

Interview by Maddy Fry. Photography by Simon Dutson.

If you have experience with embroidery, tailoring, or plain sewing and would like to join the Guild, email Minor Canon and Sacrist Helena Bickley-Percival at: [email protected].