If not for sewing, welding would remain humankind's only option for bonding things, forcing us to wear uncomfortable stainless-steel cargo shorts and cast-iron mittens. Celebrate material comfort with today's Groupon. For $20, you get $40 worth of classes at The Bernina Connection on Indian School Road. Today's Groupon is also good for 10% off class supplies. Each person may use up to five Groupons and though they cannot be combined, their leftover value may be applied toward additional classes.

Recognized by the Phoenix New Times as the Best Place to Prep for Your Project Runway Audition in 2009, The Bernina Connection provides the sewing set with a variety of fabrics, notions, equipment, and Bernina sewing machines. The shop also helps its customers reach their needle-wielding potential with both an eclectic schedule of classes that emphasize quilting, embroidery, and good grammar. Stay warm during Phoenix's famously brutal winters by creating an aesthetically pleasing cover in one of the art quilt classes (usually $30) or replace your worn-out hobo's bindle during a four-hour carry-all bag class ($30). The Amy Butler and Friends Sewing Circle Series, meanwhile, focuses on popular designer Amy Butler ($25 per session). Otherwise, live out sartorial fantasies with the Urban T-Shirt class ($30) or learn to hem without hawing in Hem Those Jeans! ($10). Students can also sign up for instruction on a number of specialty projects, such as golf-club covers, napkins, or life-sized reproductions of ancient Babylonian ziggurats. Each class accommodates about a dozen people to ensure that everyone gets plenty of one-on-one attention.

The Bernina Connection's robust class schedule offers subjects appropriate to all skill levels and covers a variety of techniques. The store's fabric-focused faculty of more than 25 teachers includes experienced quilters and union-certified pipefitters. Learn to express your creativity in the language of textiles rather than the language of endless drum solos with today's Groupon to The Bernina Connection.

Not valid toward classes with national teachers. Most classes require you to provide your own sewing machine and kit (loaner machines are available to rent for $10 and your Groupon's value may be used for this).

Reviews

The Phoenix New Times readers named The Bernina Connection the Best Place to Prep for Your Project Runway Audition in 2009, with four Yelpers giving it an average of five stars:

• [T]hey always have new stuff in and they are all so helpful and friendly. i've taken a handful of classes too and i've had so much fun. – tina n., Yelp
• Generously sized classroom where there always seems to be something going on. There is definitely a sense of "community" about this place from both the staff and the customers within. – DinerGirl P., Yelp