Yvonne Bell: how a chasuble changed her life
When Yvonne Bell’s vicar asked her to make him a chasuble she didn’t even know what one was.
‘He had to take me into the vestry to show me! I had no idea how many clerical vestments there were,’ recalls Yvonne, who had switched from attending a free church to join the Church of England. She was also at college studying art which included work on textiles.
Overnight, her life changed completely.
Creating the chasuble took her beyond the canvas prints, posters, greetings cards and postcards she had been designing. Her clerical range now includes stoles, copes, mitres, lectern and pulpit falls as well as church banners painted on silk using permanent silk dyes.
The Rt Rev Sarah Bullock, Bishop of Shrewsbury, recently had a cope made by Yvonne (pictured) to represent the area in which she ministers. Made of dupion silk and lined with cotton, the cope includes paintings of local features such as rivers, canals, birds, animals, ducks – and a green tractor.
‘It had to be green because that is the colour the local farmer drives,’ explained Yvonne.
‘The Bishop was thrilled to bits.’
It’s a reaction she invariably gets when one of her clerical creations is worn in front of a congregation. Based in nearby Deanshanger, Northamptonshire, Yvonne will be at CRE 24 introducing her range of artistic products including greetings cards and prints. She will take orders for clerical items if visitors want a special gift for a vicar or church. She will also have a range of teddy bears available for which she has created special clerical garments.
• Yvonne Bell is on stand A11 at CRE 24
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