Could embroidery be the secret to stress relief and bonding with your colleagues? was an attention grabbing headline I found in my monthly ladies fashion magazine! The November edition of RED magazine highlights the creative threads (please excuse the pun) that companies are going to in order to find an on trend but different approach to team building days and staff bonding experiences.

The editorial team at Red Magazine embraced the talents of an accomplished sewing tutor who has set up workshops designed to revive and reconnect with their staff. They were guided  through the process of creating an embroidered wall hanging to grace the communal space in the office. The question was, could an afternoon of sewing away from the pressure of their desks make them more productive and happier?

The talented tutor carefully guided the team through the process of designing their own motifs and coaxes the more tentative sewers to have a go. Many sewers are haunted by the mistakes made in school sewing lessons and this was true for some of the publications team. The author commented ‘that as adults we rarely step out of our comfort zones to learn new hobbies; in creating the embroidery each hour was new and challenging and it felt good’. They were invited to make a motif that symbolises what the magazine means to them. There was a mixture of images from awards, to cups of tea, To Do Lists and fashion icons. Their tutor commented that ‘they all had such individual responses’ which I believe resulted in an insightful afternoon but also a stunning decorative collective piece to hang in the office that was created with free motion machine embroidery and hand embroidery. One of their team commented it is a real piece if unity, strength and cohesion and gave them  an opportunity to be mindful and live in the moment.

Having recently been asked to pitch for a Yorkshire based communications giant more creative ‘away days’ are clearly filtering North!