By Vanessa Kewley Sharp

MOST POSH HAYES Street boutiques cater to deep-pocketed splurgers who can't say no to designer duds. But $70 polo shirts will quickly have any thrifty gal (or guy) doubled over in stitches. Why buy overpriced label-wear when you can make neat stuff yourself that fits you perfectly? A former vintage furniture store is now home to Stitch (182 Gough, S.F. 415-431-3739), a sewing lounge that offers sewing machine rentals, classes, and the guidance of experienced seamstresses.

By acquiring sewing skills and putting in the time, it's possible to satiate fashion sensibilities on a tight budget. The funky orange-painted space caters to both the novice and the expert sewer. The crafty can create their own one-of-a-kind looks, rather than dress in affordable but ill-fitting generic styles, either from scratch or by refashioning thrift-store garments.

Cramped city living inspired co-owners Hope Meng, Melissa Alvarado, and Melissa Roeters to establish the unusual service, which provides everything you need to cut, pin, and sew, as well as staff to answer questions as you work. Interested stitchers are encouraged to drop in to use the sewing machines ($5 a half hour) and produce as many garments as they want. "Sewing is just like cooking. You just can't be afraid of messing up," Meng said. Project-based classes and courses for all skill levels are also offered (including a class especially for men).

Clothes by emerging and established designers are also on sale at prices that are a fraction of what they sell for at Hayes Street boutiques – an inspiration for sewers and non-sewers alike. "I love clothes. I love fashion, especially clothes with an edge," said local patron Suzanne Ornelas, who, ecstatic about a Silver Lucy skirt she bought here, is now considering signing up for her first sewing class.

Marcy Tilton, founder of The Sewing Workshops (2010 Balboa, S.F. 415-221-7397), has been offering classes since 1980. When she caught wind of the three Stitch businesswomen in their 20s who were just as crazy over bias cuts and pleats as she was, she offered them her immediate support. "When I started the Sewing Workshop, I was told that it was a bad idea and that it would never fly. But it exists today, and there is a strong community that revolves around it. And I suspect that the same thing is true of Stitch," said Tilton, who now conducts sewing retreats all over the country and designs a line of patterns for Vogue.

Though hip sewing lounges like Stitch are rare in the city, there are a handful of other women like Tilton who are devoted to sharing their skills. Self-taught designer Shannon Hird, owner of the Muse Sewing Workshops (382 Bayshore Blvd., S.F. 415-668-0270), honed her skills studying alongside a fashion designer who taught her how to sew the "right" way: neater, cleaner, and with more patience. Hird started the Muse Workshops in 2002 to share her skills with burgeoning sewers of all ages and backgrounds. She says, "The workshops are a great way to inspire people to use their creativity, follow their hearts, and make more time to do what they love." Hird teaches the fundamentals of design, fashion, and product development to students who generally bring their own machines.

Learning to sew won't necessarily save you money, Hird cautions, because the Gap and Old Navy mass-produce handcrafted looks with low-cost materials and inexpensive overseas labor, enabling them to sell at clearance prices. High-quality fabric alone can really cost you. But Hird offers a few tips to help keep material costs low: Bob and Suzan Steinberg, co-owners of Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics (2518 Shattuck, Berk. 510-845-6106), a fabric and sewing center that opened in 1981, offer loads of reasonably priced, quality textiles, as well as sewing classes.

But those hardcore artisans looking to score a rock-bottom deal shop at Bayview's Scrap (801 Toland, S.F. 415-647-1746), a refuse center, store, and workshop space founded in 1976, which offers upholstery fabric from architectural firms and interior designers, and dyed and prewashed fabric from garment manufacturers, for $1 to $5 a yard. "Generally pieces are large enough for a bag or tote, and in some cases we get bolts of fabric by the yards," Kenan Shapero, Scrap's director, said. It offers occasional Saturday sewing classes and stocks other odds and ends, such as Plexiglas, wood, and poster board. Some of these materials found a second home in Stitch's space – a perfect example of the love of fashion and craft coming full circle.