What she does with thread ties her to generations of embroiderers before her, many of them anonymous, who designed, stitched and repaired the church's vestments and altar hangings. Today, she often teams with Mary Wagner, a Presbyterian stitcher with expertise in textile preservation and restoration, to teach the ancient art of ecclesiastical embroidery and how to keep vestments in good condition, to repair vestments and hangings -- to return to their owners or to be donated to others -- and to catalogue and maintain the vestments at St. John the Baptist Convent in Mendham, New Jersey. The Episcopal convent houses an impressive collection of vestments, some dating back more than 100 years.

"My journey with thread is very similar to what I see as my journey with religion," Homer says. For years, she knew what she could do with stitching -- "but I didn't know why."

She pursued other fiber crafts, such as spinning, knitting and weaving. But with embroidery, and particularly ecclesiastical embroidery, she found her niche. Over the years, when trouble struck, "it was always the stitching that balanced me out," she says. "I could find some peace and contentment."

Today, she sees her church stitchery -- much of it volunteer work -- as her gift for blessings granted. "My family and [I] have been given so much by God," she says, "that it really is a great pleasure sometimes to give some of it back."

Sharing of stories
At a workshop she and Wagner led at Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York, participants told similar tales of stitching since childhood and of finding particular meaning in using their skills at church.

"I started sewing when I was about four at my mother's knee and kept right on," recalled Susan Griscom of Zion Episcopal Church, Wappingers Falls, New York. Arthritis in her thumb wasn't enough to stop her. "As long as I can hold a needle, I can do something."

"All of us have so many unfinished projects," confessed Mildred Singler, also of Zion. "I've always said, when St. Peter calls me home, he'd better be able to provide me a comfortable chair and a good light."
Liturgical work has special meaning
"There's a kind of spiritual dimension to it that you don't have if you're just doing a couple of napkins or a sampler," Singler said.

It's also art with a practical purpose. Vestments' and altar hangings' liturgical colors and religious symbols played an important role in informing people about the church calendar and their faith, Homer explains.

"People used to understand their religion by knowing what was up there and by seeing the changing of the colors…It's what people communicated with in the beginnings of our religion. You could go from one village to another village and still understand these stories because you knew the symbols."

It is not, however, lucrative work.

"Frankly, I don't think that anybody could truly make money making these things," Homer says. Even doing repairs, you tend to just break even, she says. "There's only one woman I know that makes a living at it."

Opportunities for learning about vestment restoration and stitching -- or for getting advice on repairing or restoring particular items -- include:

Vestment Restoration Workshop, Feb. 5-10, led by Carol Homer and Mary Wagner, Convent of St. John Baptist, Mendham, New Jersey. Contact: Sr. Suzanne Elizabeth, 973-543-4641 or srse@csjb.org.

Silk and Metal Thread Embroidery Workshop, led by Marilyn Doyle, Sept. 23-29, Convent of St. John Baptist.

Free Embroidery Classes, led by Carol Homer, Wednesday evenings, Church of the Messiah, Chester, New Jersey. Contact: 908-876-3029. Homer also leads periodic daytime classes at the Convent of St. John Baptist.