This surge in activity at the sewing center represents a small, hyperlocal slice of a wider trend in which a craving for crafts and community across all ages has driven a resurgence in interest in old-fashioned, hands-on skills like crocheting, knitting and embroidery. On Reddit, the sewing subreddit community has more than two million members, and communities around crocheting or cross-stitching are similarly popular. On TikTok, users share tips on how to create the perfect dart on a pair of pants or how to repurpose old curtains or bed linens into summer dresses.

Increased economic uncertainty might be one reason that more students are enrolling in classes than have in previous years, Ms. Frailing said, with many noting that learning how to make their own clothes or tune up their thrift store finds would help them save money. Roughly a third of clothing purchases in the United States in the past year were secondhand — an increase from previous years — in large part because consumers are looking to save money, according to a recent report by Capital One.