Small, hands-on workshops and gatherings in Amsterdam. Come as you are, leave with something made and something learnt.
Small, hands-on workshops and gatherings in Amsterdam. Come as you are, leave with something made and something learnt.
I’m a hobby collector. Yes, apparently that’s a thing.
Calligraphy, origami, watercolour, and more beautiful paper than any one person needs. For years people asked me the same question: “What are you actually going to do with all those hobbies?”
Honestly? I had no idea. Then my friend Sohini and I started a supper club for our friends.
Somewhere between dinner and dessert, we noticed something. The best part of the evening was never the food. It was the people around the table: someone sharing what they love, and everyone else leaning in to try it.
Sohini is wired just like me. We find something we love, do it until the day runs out, and go to bed slightly annoyed that it’s over. So I asked her to start something with me.
Because we’re not the only ones. Most of us stopped making things somewhere along the way. Life got busy, we moved, and at some point we decided we’re “just not the creative type”. Most of us would also love to meet new people, just not over another awkward drink.
Here’s the secret: when your hands are busy, the conversation takes care of itself.
So that’s & Threads Connect. We find people who love what they do, like a painter, a yoga teacher, or a coach, and ask them to share it in small, hands-on workshops. All you need to do is turn up curious.
You’ll leave with something you made, having made a few new friends, and something to think about on the train ride home.
And my hobby collection? It finally has somewhere to go.
Create. Experience. Gather.
Shobha & Sohini
Shobha has spent much of her career in higher education, building partnerships with universities and bringing people, ideas and opportunities together. With & Threads Connect, she's doing something similar, but in a different world. This time, she's seeing possibilities in bringing together makers, people with interesting knowledge, ideas, and places to create experiences that more people can discover and enjoy.
Sohini spent two decades in data and analytics at some of the largest technology companies in the world, which is one way of saying she likes to understand how things work. When she needs to think, she goes out to the garden, or into the woods, a camera in hand. She looks after the shape of what we do, and all the small things you'll never notice because they went right.
Every thread starts somewhere.
Sometimes we find someone doing something wonderful: a watercolour artist, a yoga teacher, a career coach, and want more people to discover them. Good things deserve a bigger stage.
Sometimes we sit down with a maker and dream up something neither of us would have come up with alone: a new workshop shaped by their craft and our curiosity.
Sometimes we bring an experience somewhere we didn't expect at all: like origami in the middle of a fashion pop-up. Those are often the best ones.
Anyone who likes to discover, learn, and try things simply because something caught their eye. You don't need to be creative. Most people who say they aren't end up surprising themselves. There is no pressure to master anything, just a chance to enjoy the process. Sometimes it's the start of a new hobby. Sometimes it's just a very pleasant afternoon. Both count.
Bring your curiosity. We'll bring everything else.
Small, hands-on sessions led by people who know, make, or do something worth sharing. Come on your own or bring a friend; either way, you'll be sitting next to someone new by the end.
Some sessions are only for a single afternoon, a first taste of something. Others go deeper, like a four-week series with the same teacher, for when one afternoon turns out to be not enough. It happens more often than you'd think.
Bring your own people and make something together. A book club that fancies a change of chapter. A birthday spent painting in watercolour. A leaving do that isn't another round of drinks. A baby shower with something to make.
Choose an activity, and we'll take care of the host, the materials, and the setting. All you need to do is turn up.
A different kind of time together for colleagues. Hands-on sessions for team building, or simply a pause in a busy week. No slides, no breakout rooms, no one presenting back to the group.
Just people meeting each other properly, and leaving with something they made side by side.
We also bring experiences to other places: pop-ups, shops, studios, and venues that want to offer their guests something different.
If you have a space, an audience, or a slightly unusual idea, we'd love to hear what we could create together.
Interested in a private gathering, a team session or a collaboration? Get in touch and tell us what you have in mind.
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