History

Juliet Hemingray first trained as an Art and Design teacher in Derby, England, in the 1970s. She was unsuccessful in securing a teaching post and spent the next few years mending clothes and making curtains, etc. It was in 1980 that a friend approached her to design and make an embroidered preaching scarf/tippet that he would wear at children’s services. He wanted to express the Gospel in a lively and colourful way, and so was created the first design of the God of creation who made the heaven and the earth – a fun scene of hills, sheep, fish, and stars, moon, sun and sky.

Inevitably the business began to grow as her skills became recognised. The back room of Juliet’s Victorian house was soon bursting at the seams, and customers were enthralled by the array of colours in such a small area. Her Aladdin’s cave has now transferred to an equally bright setting of an old Victorian railway bonded warehouse. Over the years Juliet and her close knit team has been commissioned to produce 1000’s upon 1000’s of stoles, altar frontals, banners, copes, mitres, chasubles and other religious regalia that is used throughout the world.

• The Archbishop of the Canterbury, the Most Rev. and Right Honourable Dr. George Carey recognised her gift at a clerical conference and invited her to make his Enthronement robes which were seen by millions around the world.

• On the release of Terry Waite his church asked for a special chasuble to be made to celebrate his freedom from captivity. Rich golds, yellow and oranges were to become the combination of colours used for a dynamic design that portrays the light that he was starved of for so long.

Her and her teams forte is in being able to take a seed of an idea and make something that is not only a visual aid to worship, but also something of quality and beauty that will speak of the fullness and richness of the Gospel of Christ.