Sew, make soymilk and prepare to be outsmarted

PSST. Want to learn how to sew together a T-shirt, make soymilk from scratch or create direct animation from a filmstrip?

Creative types who want to get their hands dirty can learn the basics in various clinics, collaborations and celebrations, and Toyota will foot the bill.

Ten workshops will be presented over five days during the Los Angeles segment of Toyota’s YarisWorks tour, kicking off Wednesday. It’s one of several around the country, where the maker of the fuel-efficient subcompact is setting up “road shows” for participants to get crafty and, if they’re so inclined, check out the car that’s underwriting the events.

“The idea is that this car is marketed toward young people that are into music and technology and going to shows and community events and things like that,” said Jed Maheu, 26, a coordinator of the L.A. event along with the owners of Matrushka Construction, a Silver Lake clothing boutique. “A lot of these people are a little too smart to be marketed at directly.”

The sewing clinic in L.A. will be followed by sessions on, among other topics, hairstyling, music recycling, scarf making and a “Doll House Party,” at which participants will learn the vagaries of making dolls using materials such as Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys.

And the tour makes a stop at the Tofu Festival in Little Tokyo on Aug. 12, where the fare includes a “tough guy poetry clinic.”

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-- Susan Carpenter

YarisWorks tour, various locations around Los Angeles. Wednesday through Aug. 12. Free. Info: www.yarisworks.com.