Some of the toughest inmates at an Oxfordshire prison are learning to sew in an effort to stitch their lives back together.

Bullingdon Prison, near Bicester, is one of 26 prisons which run classes teaching male prisoners, including violent criminals, how to make top-quality embroidery and soft furnishings.

The classes are run by a charity called Fine Cell which takes commissions for their work and can sell them for up to £2,000 apiece, of which the inmate will get a third.

Prisoners have been responsible for linen patchwork cushions, needlepoint rugs and tapestry seat covers for furniture.

Retired nurse Marjorie Coles, from Witney, set up the classes at Bullingdon eight years ago.

The 63-year-old said the changes she has seen in the men who attend her groups were “quite astounding”.

She added: “A lot of the men come to classes initially because of the money. But the longer they stay with me, the more they come out of themselves.

“They tend to come into the classes quite quiet and reserved. I don’t ever really know what they are in prison for. I have a policy where I will not ask. I don’t need or want to know.”

Last year, more than 400 jailed stitchers across the country – 80 per cent of them male – earned a total of £61,890 through Fine Cell, which operates in 26 British prisons.

Karl was an inmate at Bullingdon Prison between 2004 and 2008. The 39-year-old, who was jailed for committing violent crime, only started the classes so he could get enough money to phone home.

But now, despite still not being able to sew a button on a shirt, Karl is an accomplished embroiderer and has made countless patchwork quilts of his own designs, including one he has given to his mother.

He said: “At the beginning it was just about money and getting enough to ring my kids.

“But after a while it gave me time to think and reflect over my previous life.

“There were some guys who obviously took the Mick a bit, but I’m a big bloke.

“They only took the Mick once.”

Karl, who fits windows and conservatories and now lives on the Isle of Sheppey, said the work helped his sentence to go quickly.

He added: “It does make the time go quicker and gives you something to work on. I used to send my kids stuff I had done.

“My son finds it quite funny that his dad sews, but I don’t mind.”

Mrs Coles added the men in her classes said that although the money was the initial draw, they felt a real sense of achievement when they completed a piece of work.

She added: “There is a big waiting list to join the classes now. The other men can see the quality of the work, and know how much they can make from it.

“There are obviously some who don’t appreciate it, but there are others who can see how beautiful the stuff is.”

Fine Cell work has been displayed in some of the most prestigious art galleries and museums in the country, including a display at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London.