Father Nicholas Gawarecki, pastor of the local Holy Family Catholic Parishes, has many hobbies including cooking, woodworking, playing Ultimate Frisbee, working out at the gym, playing piano, singing and sewing. Fr. Nicholas has applied his sewing skills to sew somewhat unique items – his own vestments.
As a child, Fr. Nicholas learned to sew from his mother. She had cut out a robe for him, but hadn’t sewn it yet. When he asked if he could sew it, she gave him permission. He completed the project with lots of experimenting and trial and error.
Fr. Nicholas was homeschooled through the 12th grade by his mother who tailored lessons to suit her children’s interests. Fr. Nicholas enjoyed the latitude that homeschooling provided.
In the early 2000s, Fr. Nicholas picked up more sewing skills as he created costumes inspired by the Lord of the Rings movies for his friends and himself. He sewed a lot of capes during that time and learned a lot about how various fabrics draped.
Fr. Nicholas grew up Catholic, always playing the role of priest when he and his siblings played Mass. Always on his mind was the question, “What does God want you to do with your life?” He began his college studies at RCTC, taking general and music classes. He then went to Benedictine College in Kansas to major in theology; from there he went to Moorhead State and earned a paralegal degree.
After working at a courthouse and for a personal injury law firm, he decided to attend IHM Seminary in Winona to get a degree in philosophy. The next step was a year at Sacred Heart in Detroit to earn a Master’s in Divinity. The final stop was at St. Paul’s in the Twin Cities to become a priest.
Since 2024 Fr. Nicholas has served the parishes in Chatfield, Preston and Canton as well as an oratory in Lanesboro in the summer. Prior to coming to the area, he was an associate priest in Fairmont.
Fr. Nicholas always enjoyed making things and decided to “try his hand” at making his own vestments once he became a priest. While there are patterns for sewing vestments available, he decided to just design his own, using paper and old bedsheets to create a personalized pattern and sew mockups.
He got lucky on his first vestments; they turned out fine. Later he had a couple that didn’t work as well; he learned it was important to use some sort of stabilizer such as Stitch Witchery or interfacings on some fabrics.
Fr. Nicholas purchases brocades, damasks and liturgical trims online from Etsy. Linen for albs and black wool for his cassock were purchased from SR Harris Outlet in the Twin Cities. He has not learned to embroider, but his sister embroidered the Sacred Heart medallion on his first vestment.
Fr. Nicholas has gone on to sew a number of vestments to wear for different days in the liturgical season. Blue, gold, green, red white and blue and red chasubles and stoles are ready for the appropriate days. He is currently working on a rose-colored set to be worn on Gaudete Sunday in Advent and Laetare Sunday in Lent.
The complete set of vestments worn by a priest includes an amice which is the hood of salvation, an alb which is a white linen robe symbolizing purity, a cincture which is a belt, a stole symbolizing the authority of the priest, a chasuble which is a colored outer garment symbolizing love and charity.
Fr. Nicholas has sewn a chasuble and stole for a friend for his first Mass as well as an alb for another fellow priest. He sewed a corporal for the church; this is a linen cloth which is placed on the altar under the chalice and paten to collect crumbs of the Eucharist.
When asked for any advice to others wishing to sew vestments, Fr. Nicholas suggested they find someone to teach them basic sewing techniques. He stressed that they should not expect perfection. A few hints from Fr. Nicholas were to be sure to use stabilizers when needed and always iron as you sew.
Fr. Nicholas sometimes wears commercially sewn vestments that the parish has, but prefers to wear his custom vestments. He is smaller and shorter than some priests and the purchased vestments are often too long. “As a priest, I should look appropriate and present myself before God as God’s minister,” Fr. Nicholas shared.
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