The evening hour is late, and the Ecclesiastical workroom is still out of commission. Thankfully, the set of Pastoral Stoles were completed on time for the parting gift for our vacancy Pastor. With photographic apologies as there is no place to properly take photos at our church, here is the black and gold pastoral stole created for  use on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

This liturgical stole is simple, made from black silk dupioni as a fabric base. The cost of a stole length of Dupioni is around $12 to 15.  The orphrey bands are cut from an Ecclesiastical Fabric called Fairford. Fairford Brocade comes in both solid colors as is the fabrics in this Ash Wednesday Vestment set, as well as two-toned colors like the stole above. Most often the design portion  in the two-tone fabrics is worked in gold threads with a solid background. The color combinations available are red/gold, violet/gold, blue/gold, gold/gold and black/gold.  The black gold combination is nothing short of stunning!  There is also a black/silver color combination.

The fabrics selected for this stole are important as cost was a factor. Selecting Silk Dupioni as the base fabric has a cost of less than $15.  That fits the budget. The orphrey bands used a quilter’s fat quarter (or perhaps a fat third of a yard) of fabric. The orphrey bands would be around  $25 or so per fat quarter.  This stole calls for a special trim to set it off as a finishing touch and  the St. Benet trim is just the ticket. It comes in two sizes: 1/2″ and 1″.  A piece slightly less than 1 yard was needed of each section of orphrey, with the narrow piece used on the top orphrey, and the wider piece used at the bottom. Other needed items include a stole length of heavy canvas (or dowlas) for the interfacing, and a selection for the lining. I always try to add a cross at the back neckline of a stole. One final detail is the use of a chain at the back neckline.  Fringe or tassels may also be added.

While this combination of fabrics is simple, adding the Black/Gold St. Benet braid to this pastoral stole provides a simple tailored finish that is oh so stunning! This tailored look for stoles fits many budgets, and would work well for other color combinations. For those who may be going into a variety of churches  And the good news is that the fabrics will be available here at Ecclesiastical Sewing shortly after the first of the year!

Solo Dei Gloria

Be sure to visit our online store front Ecclesiastical Sewing where you may shop for Liturgical Fabrics, altar linen fabrics, church vestment making patterns, liturgical machine embroidery designs,  church vestment trims and notions and so much more. You may also find us on  Ecclesiastical Sewing  on Facebook , Twitter, and Pinterest. Sing up for our mailing list  at the bottom of the page on our online store front and receive a free copy of our Small Linens Booklet as our way of saying thank you for following along.

Filed under: Ecclesiastical Sewing, Liturgical Fabrics, Pastoral Stoles Tagged: Ecclesaistical Sewing, Ecclesiastical Sewing, Fairford Brocade, Liturgical Fabrics, Orphrey bands, Pastoral Stoles, St. Benet braid