About Sarah Rakestraw and Golden Hinde
Sarah Rakestraw is the owner of Golden Hinde. Her love of gold work and many other embroidery techniques can be seen in each piece of work crafted by her and her enthusiasm shines through when talking about or teaching embroidery techniques.
“My love of gold work started whilst watching my mum for many years, designing clothes and making costumes for school plays. She worked on a banner for my school for two years, all worked in goldwork this banner is paraded with my old school St Thomas’s every walking day displaying its beauty as it ripples in the sunshine to this day”.
At the age of 14, Sarah studied Textiles GCSE, at which she achieved the highest grade (A). Sarah also attained an Art “A” level and over the years has developed her interest in embroidery and sewing by making and designing her own clothes and patterns.
Sarah also attended University and achieved a degree in business and financial management and as a result is also a Chartered Accountant.
Sarah is married to Stephen and has two children John and William.
Sarah is our Resident Tutor, she has been teaching embroidery for over 25 years and is an expert in her field, she has taught in many different settings to different skill levels, from taster classes at the likes of the knitting and stitch show to full week long retreats.
We also hold fortnightly regular in-person classes where lots of stunning work is produced with the help of Sarah, who designs many of the pieces based on what the embroiderer wants to make, this can be taken from a picture as inspiration or an idea from scratch.
In addition, Sarah also hosts special one off classes for others such as Embroiderers guilds, and has held a private class for Phillipa Turnbull and her team at the crewelwork company.
Sarah has also taught for Lady Anne’s Needlework where she has taught a goldwork book, which involved samples of lots of threads and wires. In 2023 she taught Lady Margaret’s Pin Cushion, these were all taught online.
Having developed her expertise over so many years, Sarah is delighted to launch the Golden Hinde Academy in December 2023.