Bling

Earlier in the year I mentioned the fabric I ordered from Mat. Yulia in Zhytomyr and which near-miraculously made its way here from Ukraine. It's finally been turned into the long-planned new 'best white' set of vestments, and we used them for the first time on Christmas Day. I used our existing Gothic sets, which I think were probably bought to celebrate the church's centenary in 1949, as a model, but in the event opened up the collar by an inch to make it easier to put on: in fact sewing around the collar was the most difficult bit. I'm pleased, because we now have a 'best' set that includes a maniple but doesn't have any gold lamé, and which others will be happy to use! It also stands as something of an expression of solidarity with the people of Ukraine and a reminder of the links between nations, peoples, and international politics. We are all connected.