Before the advent of sewing, humans were forced to duct-tape fabric directly to their bodies, which made it difficult to divide up basketball teams into shirts and skins in under an hour. Eschew daily waxing with today's Groupon: for $45, you get three three-hour introductory sewing lessons at The Tin Thimble in Loomis (a $90 value).

Featured in Style Magazine and The Loomis News, The Tin Thimble's mother-daughter duo earns attention for passing on stitching skills to aspiring threadmasters. Drawing on more than 40 years of sewing experience, Sharon Mansfield commandeers the lessons, acquainting newbies with the parts of the sewing machine and imparting basic techniques such as zig-zag stitching and piecing together torn-up lottery tickets. The goal of the lessons is to handcraft a garment from beginning to end, from cutting out the pattern and sewing it according to the proper measurements to adding on hems, buttons, snaps, or zippers.

Six to eight people populate each session, so each student gets plenty of individual attention from the needle-wielding guru. A giant thimble hung above the exterior doorway greets each guest as they enter the colorful storefront, where brightly patterned fabrics, multi-chromatic buttons, and shimmering accessories bedeck the walls. Students sink into padded chairs in the studio, where they labor to create a masterpiece worthy of cloaking a Hollywood star or famous mannequin.