Care and repair of ecclesiastical textiles and provision of new work.
The Broderers’ Guild is responsible for the care and repair of ecclesiastical textiles in the Cathedral and the provision of new work as and when required. We are also able to offer our services to parishes and private individuals within the Norwich Diocese and beyond.
About 50% of our work is for the Cathedral and 50% for parishes or individuals. Of that, half of our time is usually spent on restoration, alterations or repairs to existing ecclesiastical work, and half on designing and making new textile items.
We are able to provide a service tailored to the needs of individual projects, including cleaning, repair and restoration for old work and design, embroidery and making up for new work. Please contact the Workshop supervisor, Helen Jenkins to arrange a consultation.
Care and repair of ecclesiastical textiles
The Broderers' Guild uses a variety of approaches and techniques in their work. Each textile item requiring treatment is carefully assessed and the treatment aim identified and agreed with the client according to
- the type of textile being treated,
- its condition, and
- the purpose for which it is being restored or repaired.
Treatment aims
The main aim of any treatment is to stabilise the existing condition and protect against further deterioration. Treatment outcomes for ecclesiastical textiles, which are intended to continue being used, may be very different to the treatment outcomes for textiles expected to be put into long-term museum storage. It is important that the treatment aim should reflect this different need to enable a textile item to continue being used and enjoyed, by the church and its congregation, until it comes to the end of its useful life.
Specialist materials and techniques used
- Pre-shrunk calico is used to support weakened background fabrics.
- Conservation net is a fine polyamide net used to cover large or small areas. Its uses include both protecting the surface of the fabric or embroidery from further damage and also suggesting colour where necessary. It is custom dyed in the workshop to the required shade for each project. Polyester threads rather than silk are used for couching down cords and net.
- Textile items are usually carefully vacuumed clean through a filter net to remove loose dust and debris and wax spots may be removed.
- Previous repairs may be carefully removed although this is dependent on a number of factors including whether the repairs make a significant historical contribution to the piece.
- Fringes and braids may be carefully removed, cleaned and stored separately. Fringes are steamed and straightened prior to reapplication.
- The technique of 'couching' is a method by which one thread or cord is held down in place on top of the surface of a fabric by a second finer thread, which is stitched across it at right angles at regular intervals. It is used extensively in repairs to fabrics, fine embroidery and gold work, and in holding conservation net in place.
Common problems and treatments
The three most common problems treated by the Broderers’ Guild are
- cracked and split background fabrics
- worn silk floss embroidery and
- gold work that has 'popped'.
Silk background fabrics are easily damaged by light, initially leading to fading, but then after many years, to cracks, splits, and then break up into little fragments and dust. Weak background fabrics may be mounted onto calico for support and take the strain of any future stitching and reframing. Cracks and splits are couched down and then covered in couched, colour matched conservation net where required. In certain circumstances, it may be more appropriate, to remove existing embroidery panels and replace these onto new fabric, as an alternative to carrying out extensive repairs on a badly damaged background.
Fine silk floss embroidery has usually been rubbed away through friction, so fibres may need smoothing and careful couching down to preserve what is left of them. We do not attempt to restore the embroidery to its original condition by adding new threads, as these are difficult to match, inevitably look wrong and would be out of keeping with the overall faded condition of the original piece. If a client wanted full colour to be restored, we would probably suggest making a copy of the piece of work using new materials.
Gold cords are formed by wrapping gold coloured paper around a central silk core. 'Popping' of gold work occurs when the original silk thread used to couch down the gold cord has rotted, allowing the gold cord to spring away from the background. This gold cord will then pull on other stitches, causing them to break as well, and thus allowing yet more cords to spring away from the background. Evidence of popping in one area generally indicates a far more widespread problem. Although isolated cords can be couched down again individually, there is a tendency for the needle movement to disturb other weak stitches. Therefore, often, the best course of action is to replace all couching in an affected area using polyester thread. Couched, colour matched conservation net may be applied as required to the frontal or vestment before making up with new interlinings and linings.
New work
Each year the Broderers’ Guild undertakes a number of new projects, both for the Cathedral, and parishes and individuals ranging from book markers to kneelers and chasuble and stole sets to frontals.