I received an email a while back from a priest in a community who needed a solution for replacing the ties on their albs.
Alb ties often wear out, tear, and become too short to tie but replacing an alb can be costly, especially when you have a full community of priests. A much better, cost-effective solution is to replace the ties and restore the alb to use.
There are a number of solutions that I have seen over the years to replace alb ties — twill tape, ribbon, cording, etc. But the best, by far, is a solid weave cotton tape. It is elegant without too much flare. Just add a couple of small folds and little hand stitching to the ends to guard against fray and it becomes the perfect balance of functional and beautiful. It is also a great solution for replacing the ties on the inside of a chasuble. Finding the perfect width to fit through the neck of the alb can be a challenge and may require a little compromise. In this case, however, I was able to find the exact size of the previous ties. Sometimes the little things bring great joy especially when they work out so perfectly.
