Best DIY Project Ever!?!

I was fortunate enough to watch Daft Punk play the 02 festival two summers ago in Hyde Park and was blown away by their performance and of course I left the park wanting my own robot leathers outfit complete with LED Helmet. During my daily visit to Kanye's blog where I gaze over the plethora of links which he has managed to amass that particular day, I came across the best piece of DIY I have ever seen. If Casey Pugh entered this video into The Sunday Best's contest he would surely have a chance of walking away with the prize...

My Daft Punk helmet from Casey Pugh on Vimeo.

This makes me lose heart in the quality of my own entry to the contest but inspires to spend some of my Christmas holiday with a screwdriver and many, many LEDs. If I don't return from my Christmas break you will know why...

Bailey's Lost Matchstick Man?

The title of this post is somewhat optimistic but you have to aim high right? There is no doubt that the Burberry Prorsums AW 08 collection was one of the stand out collections way back at the beginning of the year and as this year draws to a close it is about time that I present to you my own interpretation...using the fruits of my DIY challenge and dlittlegarden's handywork!

To reach my Burberry knock off look, the DIY Cardigan is worn with grey shirt from bstore, vintage bow tie from Marks&Spencer, grey trousers from peoplesmarket, patent shoes by swear and winter warming accessories from dlittlegarden.

This little tribute look was a long time coming but I'm glad that I've finally done it. I can now move on from my little obsession...I wonder what the next one will be...

DIY - Cardigan Reborn

EJ certainly raised the bar with her wonderfully executed and amusing Tache Gloves (these would make a great, inexpensive Christmas Gift). For my DIY Project I wanted to create a double layered cardigan because I have been crazing one ever since I saw them strut down the LS Lowry inspired Burberry AW 08 runway but could not find a more affordable version anywhere. The colour palette that Bailey used in that show made me want to rush out and play in imaginery piles of crispy red and brown leaves...and I wanted to achieve something similar. Then I remembered about my well worn Reiss cardigan which was lying somewhat unloved at the bottom of one of my drawers. Susie actually featured this cardigan on her blog long before we started going out and it was the first time that I took notice of style and fashion blog...more importantly it was the first real opportunity for me to speak to her at work (for those of who don't know we used to work at the same office) and of course great things have later blossomed. Therefore, this Reiss cardigan deserved a much better life than the one it had found itself in. So under the guise of the Men Represent DIY Challenge, I just had to breathe fresh life into this special piece of knitwear.

What you will need...

- Two cardigans, preferably battered and old. I actually decided to treat myself to an extra fine Merino Wool Cardigan from Uniqlo in a complimentary shade because my deep aubergine Reiss Cardigan deserved a fine companion.
- Needle & thread
- Pins
- A steady hand and patience...neither of which I have!

What I did...

1) It seemed that the bottom drawer had not been too kind on the Reiss Cardigan and a repair job was needed on a few rips, tears and loose buttons, so out came the needle and thread to make some fat fingered amends.


2) Following the repair job, I carefully cut along the seams of the sleeves to create a sweater vest out of the Uniqlo cardigan. To maximise my thrifty-ness I kept hold of the sleeves because these could quickly be turned into arm warmers.

3) I've really never seen the appeal of sweater vests so continued to cut until all I was left with were the two front panels.

4) Now came the fun part. The joining of the two. I overlapped each panel and played around with it until I was happy with the appearance of the overlap (two inches at the bottom, thinning out to the top) and pinned the garments in place. All that was left now was to sew where the two seams met and the cardigans were now entwined.

Apologies for the brightness in this shot. I will post styled pictures of the cardigans later today...

I'm ashamed to say that this was the first time that I've held a needle and thread since Primary School (we took basic textiles classes in Year Four) and my technique certainly improved as the morning developed. Now that I have awoken my crafty side, I have taken the needle and thread to add leather buttons to my Angels find. Over the course of a few hours, I had breathed fresh life into two garments and hopefully this inspires you to at least think about doing the same.

DIY tash

When I saw the Jack Spade for Gap for Colette x Gap moustache gloves my first thought was 'dude, those are so sweet' (yes, I turn into an American teenager when excited). My second thought was 'I could do that'. So, for my DIY/men represent project, I did.

What you will need:
- Gloves
- Felt
- Needle & thread
- Tailors chalk
- Scissors
- Pen & paper

...and it helps to have a mirror.

(I think you know what a mirror looks like)

To start with, I drew roughly the shape of the desired tash onto my felt using tailor's chalk. I had decided to use black felt with grey gloves. The tailor's chalk didn't work brilliantly but it was enough to get the general idea. I then cut out the shape.

As you can see, it turned out a little wonky.

Wonkers!

Take two. I figured folding the felt in half, then cutting out half a moustache shape would produce something a little more even. This worked, but was a bit too small.

Small and sweet.

Take three. I had drawn out a half mustache shape on paper and used it as a guide to ensure that the tash was big enough.

Please excuse my freaky fingers.

This time the porridge was just right... um, I mean, this worked. Finally a shape and size that I was happy with!

From top to bottom: wonkers, mini and just right.

Then I put on the glove and put the moustache into position. Because it was felt on wool the tash stuck enough by itself for me to be able to let go and get a real idea of how it looked before fastening it on properly. (this is where a mirror comes in handy. I stupidly kept running into the bathroom to look until I remembered my portable mirror).

Once you're happy with the positioning, it's time to start sewing. I suppose you could use a small amount of glue to stick it on, but I wasn't convinced that this would hold. I just used a few small cross stitches in the middle of the tash- a maximum of 5 minutes sewing (I'm really cack handed and had to keep checking that it was on straight) and then I was done!

Cue idiotic picture:

This time you'll have to excuse both my freaky fingers AND my freaky face. I'm not used to taking photos of myself for the blog. And I was trying to hide my excitement about moustache gloves! Focus on the GLOVES people!

Men Represent: DIY!

I bet you thought it was over, didn't you? How wrong you were... Possibly our last request of you for this year is my favourite yet. It's time to get creative!

I've noticed that a lot of my favourite women's style blogs do some AMAZING DIY projects, but it's something you very rarely see on men's. Is it because crafts are more popular among the ladies? Do they take more pride in being able to say 'oh this? I made it myself'?

We'd love to see your DIY projects: write up how-tos, create photo guides, film how-to videos. Show the world that you're all just as innovative as the ladies (we know you are, but the world should know too).

Here are a few man-friendly DIY projects to inspire you:

A rather fantastic, if probably time consuming shredded t shirt

Knit your own Steve Zissou hat!

Slim those trousers!

Make an ascot tie out of normal ties

Your project can be as large or as small as you want: you can simply change 3 buttons on a cardigan or you can create your own range of knitwear. Just make sure you write up/film/photograph what you did and the results.

You can't buy style but you can make it

This was the title of a recent entry on the sartorialist and upon reading this it made me feel guilty that I do not make/personalise enough of my clothes or accessories. I have a long list of accessory and garment ideas that i have penned into my trusty notebook but these ideas have never been realised and that is a little shameful. I thought about trying to hide behind the excuse that maybe it is because of my gender (it is true in the sense that I know countless girls who are thrifty and make their own clothes and no guys) but I had sewing classes back at primary school. I am just lazy. But I want to change! Is there anyone out there who regularly makes items of clothing? Are there any keen male knitters out there? I am going to see EJ this weekend and part of that weekend will be spent in her teaching me the difference between the knit and the purl. Photos will follow....

Hand to hand combat with a ball of wool

Oh my, am I rubbish. But less of that and more posting!

Although you may not consider this post to be strictly about style, it is a topic close to my heart. I want to write today about knitting, and specifically men who knit. I learnt to knit late last year and was pleasantly surprised by how easy (not that I can knit anything more complicated than a square or scarf yet) and relaxing it is. I've found it to be the ideal thing to do while listening to music or watching rubbishy tv (I have great difficulty doing just one thing at once) and making things yourself is the ultimate in bespoke.

I keep hearing about a rise not just in women knitting (the so-called craft revolution has done wonders for wool shops) but also a subsection of cool male knitters.

All over the web there are brilliant knitting sites, and some really great ones dedicated to male knitters.

Men who Knit

Men Knit (ok, maybe they're not very creative when it comes to naming.. though I love that there's a men's knitting group called 'Dicks with Sticks')

A great issue for men from Knitty.com

That last link has some great patterns including a brilliant baggy sleeved cardigan. The way I see it though is even if you're not ever going to get to the level where you can knit cool stuff like that, how great is it to be able even to make your own scarves in the colours you love the most?

If you don't know how to knit yet, you may want to check out the following link for some helpful videos.

How to knit a scarf courtesy of VideoJug

Hello there.

Oh why is Russell Crowe on our blog? Damn that neanderthal and his poor sense of style. other than that I love the post. You need to teach me how to knit. I want some arm-warmers because I've seen them worn really well under coats and want to emulate the look. Next time I visit you in Manchester you have to teach me the basics. I could learn from online videos or by abducting an old lady but I would prefer to have your wise words and demonstrations rather than from someone who smells funny. I stumbled across the look on luisaviaroma and even I wouldn't spend that kind of money on a pair of arm-warmers so why not make them. If I fail I can always buy a cheaper version but I want to try. What fun we will have in Manchester!

Picture postcard: I think holidays may have made me crazy

Heed these wise words, Steve, heed them well.

This picture actually hurts my brain a little. Part of me thinks that this is utterly amazing- it's a freaking hat made of his own hair after all! Look at how much effort must have gone into it! Another part of me thinks 'good grief, that's a lot of effort to make hat hair'.

Still, like it or not, at least it's a bit different. Doing the best you can with what you've got (going by the writing, rather than the picture now) is always to be commended... surely? So the question is: if you could grow a fro hat, would you?

Now this dude has the right attitude. To think I used to look at Will Smith in the Fresh Prince and be amazed...that was nothing compared to this. We need people like him over the coming weeks as we look to explore the limits of blogging. Pure dedication to the cause...persistent, imaginative and crazy (we all need that important mix of crazy).

Made for each other

While I'm aware that it's about time I did proper post for this place, I'm afraid that birthday fever has taken over and my tiny attention span is even shorter than normal. I thought that I'd just post quickly about a couple of articles that have caught my eye lately: this one about bespoke shirts and this one about bespoke shoes.

I love the idea of having all my clothes made just for me, but have reconciled myself to the fact that this is not possible just yet. I think what is interesting about the first article particularly is what he discovers about how clothes are meant to fit (as well as learning the terminology). It is shocking how many men you see walking around wearing clothes that are completely the wrong size. A friend of ours thought that- despite being extremely skinny- he was a size large or extra large simply because he was slightly taller than average. The fact that the shoulders of his t shirts hung close to his elbows and that his body was just swamped with excess fabric (and not in a trendy, deliberate way) did not trigger off any thoughts in his head that maybe- just maybe- these clothes were 3 sizes too big. So many people, myself included, will also sacrifice decent fit because they like something so much they're desperate to MAKE it fit. With me this just means I wear the item a couple of times, feel incredibly uncomfortable because it doesn't look or hang right, then shove it in the bottom of a drawer with a vague sense of guilt until the next charity shop clear out. Well no more! I say.

Don't worry, I'm not about to say we should all sacrifice our social lives and food budgets for half the year to afford four bespoke shirts (£700 seems indecent, but then I'm not wealthy) but it's time we stopped compromising on fit. Do it today! Go to that wardrobe and drag out anything that doesn't fit quite right. Trousers particularly are easy to fix- I would hope that the waist is right or, really, what were you thinking? If they're too loose, make sure you have a good belt that suits them, if they're too tight, chuck them, they look crap anyway. Look at the length: if they're too long, seriously consider getting them shortened. By and large trousers should break once on the shoe, not pool around your ankles- I'm sure you all know that by now, so why are we putting up with anything but perfection when it is so easy (and relatively cheap) to get them altered? Be ruthless too with your tops. I am aware that it's not so easy to get these altered and I know that a man's bond with his favourite shirt or his favourite t shirt is sacred but call me sacrilegious, looking really good is more important than a material posession if said material posession just isn't working. If you love the fabric of a shirt too much to get rid of it entirely, try using it in a different way, perhaps tearing it up to make hankies (sorry, pocket squares), patches or if you're really handy with a needle and thread, to line the inside of another shirt's collar and cuffs.

Hmm, I seem to have gone off topic a little here. I did warn you about birthday fever though.

The glory that is my 21st birthday cake- check out the long hair!

Fighting in the streets - The style of The Clash

Having changed my mind over who to blog about first countless times over the last two days (actually weeks) the tossing and turning is over. In the end it had to combine my two favourite things: music and fashion. So let's start with the Clash.

Bernie Rhodes (the manager) said "There's gonna be a lot of fighting in the streets. Things are going to get rough so we're going to need clothes which are tough." Rhodes approached a number of fashion students to realise his vision of tough streetwear that looked great on stage. Rhodes chose Alex Michon (pictured left in a Clash shirt) who at the time was a 19 year old art student. Her successive waves of militaristic designs have ultimately defined the look of one of the most visually exciting bands. We can also see the influence contemporary influence with brands such as April 77 exploring similar ideas.

You would be misinformed to say that the Clash just wore what they were told to (never a good thing because you have to wear the clothes, not the other way around!). A key facet of their style was the individual inputs from the band members. Simonon (pictured left, and looking awesome!) for example during the early days designed Pollock influenced paint splashes on the clothes and shoes. It is unlikely that I would do that a whole outfit but splattering your accessories, such as tie/pocketsquare/bag would look great. Another example is Joe Strummer adapting the zip jacket designed by Michon and worn at their famous Rainbow gig (April 1977) by stitching a ripped up photo from the Notting Hill carnival onto the side. (I have hunted for images to illustrate these two points but alas i am empty handed so please just imagine it, or better still send me what you find!). What we can take from these examples is; be creative. Look at the clothes you buy and wear, make them yours. Rather than just buying a new item of clothing look at what you already have, can you adapt an old piece that has been sitting in the wardrobe unworn and give it a new lease of life? Currently my to do list involves tapering trousers, adding zips to jumpers and pockets and of course this will all be blogged about no matter how successful or otherwise.

Another part of their style mentality we like is the fact that the individual needs were taken into account for example Strummer had to have a little plectrum pocket inhis trousers and an inside pocket for the books that he always carried with him. At times too many people neglect their individual needs when thinking about the clothes they buy and wear. Granted, not everyone needs special pockets (even though they are cool) but thought about what we do in the clothes we wear has to have an influence on what we actually wear.

Overall when we think about what The Clash wore, we think of primary colours (with plenty of black), stencilled slogans/phrases and of course zips! I currently love black vintage leather biker jackets with a number of chunky zips but the hunt for one that fits as I want it to is proving hard. At the moment House of Holland-esque slogans (especially the typeface) are everywhere and to be honest I am a little tired of them but if witty and or interesting why not add one to an old t-shirt.

We have only really touched on some of things we like, we don't want to bore you this early but it means we will return to this band! For us at Style Salvage clothes (although extremely important) are only one aspect of style. The Clash and in particular Joe Strummer provide ample material in discussions regarding how to style hair...but you will have to wait for that.

Art attack - Old clothes reborn with paint

The latest issue of fashion156 went up yesterday and it has made me want to roll back the years and get some paint on my clothes. As a toddler we all went home after playschool full of milk and cookies... we would have made a new best friend or acquired a new girlfriend perhaps but more often than not we would dismay our parents by adding paint to our clothes as a result of an over zealous finger painting experience (or maybe that was just me?)... but why not grab the paint again? For thrifty or experimental girls this is nothing new so why let the likes of style bubble have all the fun? For some inspiration check out my favourites from the fashion156 shoot...

Hand-painted shirt and windmill attachment by Deryck Walker

Top hat by CA4LA

Hand-painted silk scarf by Peckham Rye

Like Elliot James Sainsbury we all have a pile of either forgotten, worn out or plain outright bad clothes in a plethora of pale shades so why not breathe some life into them and have fun in the process by playing with some paint. To me no man should wear white jeans... if you have a pair and feel like I do then why not salvage them with a few paint splashes? I particularly want to get my hands dirty and inject some colour into dull accessories. We saw Pilatti use paint to great effect during his s/s 08 collection, I particularly liked his painted brogues...but if that is a little too much why not try turning a pale scarf into a scarf which packs a colourful punch just like the Peckham Rye offering above.

Turning up (in) the heat

There was a time when I would only contemplate wearing boot cut jeans...thankfully those adolescent 90s days are well and truly behind me. That said I've only recently started experimenting with trouser length, possibly inspired by the shrunken suits of Thom Browne. As the days are getting warmer (but alas currently no sunshine in London at least) I decided to break that old Victorian taboo of showing off my ankles. (as a Google search addict I naturally googled 'Victorian ankles' and I came across this site - man the Internet is a wonderfully weird place)

My experimentation was not merely in the laboratory (my girlfriend's room) but I also took it to the streets of London town. I teamed up my sexy ankles with battered Swear shoes, Unconditional Bibbed T shirt under a Made in England sheer short sleeve shirt completed with Prada glasses and American Apparel black vinyl duffel bag. Please see exhibit A below

When the weather cools down I might even take this further and appease any remaining Taboo holders by wearing colourful socks, in a similar way to this chap featured some time ago on the Sartorialist and the thrifty Elliot Sainsbury featured on the fashion156 blog.

Off the cuff

Men's jewellery is a topic we've neglected thus far. Rest assured it is a topic I wish to tackle, but I'm finding it surprisingly difficult to find anything that inspires me (suggestions on a postcard!). The cuff above, found via Iain Claridge's blog, took my fancy somewhat. It's part of a collection of cuffs by re:vision, all of which are made from discarded camera components and 'reshaped with love'. An interesting idea but, starting at $190 (AU), a little pricey.

If you're interested, they're available at Oye Modern... which tells us that "re:vision brings old school cameras into an entirely new focus". There's no reason for me telling you this other than because I love a good pun.

E Tautz over another cup of tea

As you all know I met up with Patrick Grant last week and were talked through the E. Tautz collection. My time with the youngest guvnor on Savile Row did not stop there and I was fortunate enough to ask him a few more questions and it was an absolute pleasure to hear his thoughts on men's fashion. The last post was full of great quotes but my particular favourite was "we've got to the point where we'd rather have ten cheap things than one good thing" and the below picks up on this point. Here we talk about the effect of the recession on buying, the art of wardrobe building and the need for more tailors...

SS: What has the interest from buyers been like given the current economic climate?

PG: Japanese buyers have recently confirmed but there were only five buyers actually invited to the show itself. Budget cuts are an issue but the people who came really liked the collection and went away on the hunt for extra buying funds. We are still waiting on hearing back from a few but we will know in the next week or two, so we will see what happens.
SS: I am always jealous of the offerings available to Japanese consumers, they just have it too good!

SS: The art of wardrobe building is one we love but it certainly goes against the prevailing throwaway consumerism of today; what are your thoughts on this way of consuming?
PG: If you buy well you will still have it when it is sixty years old. I've got plenty of bits of clothing in my wardrobe, particularly knitwear and the odd jacket that I had bought from the likes of Gucci, Prada, Helmut Lang, Dolce & Gabbana to a certain extent and a few others and I've still got the best of those pieces and I still wear them. The only thing that doesn't really last are the trousers. If they had been made in the cloths that we use and in the way we make them they would still be fine. Machine hemmed trousers are always falling apart and it is amazing that no one knows how to sew anything anymore.

SS: That is so true, I've only recently started dabbling with replacing buttons on jackets but the effect and response to it has been so positive and it is so simple.
PG: We should put up a number of how to videos on the website instructing people how to get the most out of their clothes through simple tailoring, how to hem your trousers, how to sew a button on your shirt... We used to do it all the time at school, not particularly well but we did it. We used to shorten our trousers: I remember one of my roommate taking in peoples trousers in because we all wanted trousers that, basically you couldn't put your feet through. Few people are bothered to do that now. Now if a button falls off a shirt it is thrown away.

SS: Can you see this attitude changing in the foreseeable future?
PG: There is group called Slow Fashion at St Martins which I went to the first meeting of and it is so brave of them, I think, because it flies in the face of everyone who basically pays for their existence. The more care that is taken in the creation of your clothes, the more enjoyment you will get out of them and the longer you will get to enjoy that. I think, especially for men, there are fashionable men and stylish men and we are talking more to stylish men than fashion men but of course there is a little overlap. I think even fashionable men have a little space in their wardrobes for certain core pieces. Everyone wears black or grey slim trousers and if you have a really great pair that fit you beautifully, look good, kept their crease really nicely and were going to last twenty years, you might think that £800 isn't really that much... it might feel like a lot but think of the wear you will get out of them.

SS: It seems most people have forgotten about the whole cost per calculation.
PG: I mean I used to pay £1200 for an off the peg suit, this is going back a few years so I have no idea how much they are now but I used to wear them fifteen or twenty times and the trousers would be worn out in the crotch, I even had one and the tip of the lapel wore out.
SS: Ha, what were doing in that jacket?
PG: I have no idea but it was strange. I particularly have a problem with the crotch of trousers because I cycle and have big thighs. Of course we have lightweight cloths here that might not last but we would recommend a customer buy two pairs of trousers with their suit.

SS: You just would not get that service in most ready to wear stores.
PG: What's nice about the way we are coming at it is that the people involved in Tautz basically work at Nortons. We spend our lives dealing with the type of people we are hoping to sell Tautz to because they are the equivalent to our customers here who are unable to come here and have their suits made but we want to give them something of that quality. We cut it in a way we think feels like a good Savile Row suit, it has got shape in it and makes you look different, it's not a skinny, slim suit but a well cut suit and you very rarely see that. There aren't very many well cut suits kicking around this town and we want to give Tautz something of Savile Row about it. We eat, sleep and breathe great quality clothes and everything we do is done with integrity.

SS: Have you noticed a change in peoples attitude towards tailoring over time?
PG: Tailoring is an incredibly efficient way of buying clothes cost wise and you really get what you pay for. At Nortons the first suit we make, we don't actually make any money because we have to sew it, fit it, take it apart, re cut it, sew it, fit it, take it apart... you know, it is only when we've made one and have a pattern for you that we actually start to make some money. You are getting tremendous value for money if you go to a tailor and it just so happens that we are in the middle of a community of the best tailors in the world. Certainly what you get here is expensive tailoring but there tailors... actually, sadly there are almost no tailors left.

The country should be filled with tailors and everyone should be buying their suits from a tailor. I used to go to a little tailor in Liverpool and his suits were less than the Prada suits that I was taking in to be altered. My perception then was that Prada was very cool but the fact is he could have cut me and made a better suit for less money and I would have looked better if I wasn't such an idiot swayed by a label which I was at that time. 'The only name in your suit should be your own' is the old adage and that is a nice way of thinking about it. Most of my early suits came from a tailor in Edinburgh which doesn't exist anymore... in fact there is only one tailor in Edinburgh now. A city of half a million people, a capital city with a financial centre and only one tailor.

SS: I remember being tempted by a one page ad featured in GQ which called for more tailors.
PG: If you are good at it you can make a good living. The guys who work on this street certainly do but they are bloody good. It is a difficult street and you have to be really good to make a living here but if you are good, you can do very well. Most sewing tailors are self employed and we share with a number of firms. There are some great young tailors who work very hard, there are some old ones to who start at 6am and work right through to 9pm.

SS: It is such a shame that there are so few...
PG: The problem we have is the cost of training people. After years of lobbying by the Savile Row Bespoke Association they have given us £1,000 per apprentice per year but it costs us more like £20,000 so we can only afford one apprentice here at the moment but ideally we could train three people at a time. The biggest file I have in my drawer is full of applications for apprenticeships and we get about one a day. The thing is, we are flat out here and we desperately need more good tailors.

SS: Lastly, there has been a great deal spoken on luxury in the downturn and this must be on your mind as well...
PG: Many people have asked why we would start a new brand in the midst of this economic disaster and for me it doesn't really matter as to when we start but it feels as though people are interested in proper products, quality and integrity... everything we stand for. Whether or not the economic cycle is poor or good should not affect the decision to do this but there is also this belief that these are the type of thing people retreat to when you haven't got a surplus of cash to spend it should be spent on the items you know are worth it and will last. People will continue to want to dress well and wear nice things, which isn't always the same thing. We have seen this with Nortons which has a heavy British based client base and we actually had our best year in eight years last year, we saw a big jump on the year before despite a disastrous US economy and dour forecasts for the British economy. The start of this year has been really strong with this February being better than the last.

Quick Inspiration: Papier Bags

This is just a quick post because I'm tired and weary after a hard week but I just had to share these with you. I stumbled across these Papier Bags by Sakia Diez made from Tyvek® over on today and tomorrow and just had to share them with you. The material is a synthetic paper made from PE which is extremely tearproof, lightweight, waterproof and recyclable. Like most bags, they become little more special after some wear and tear...I wouldn't treat them too roughly though. I just wish that next time I visit Tesco they offer me a 'bag for life' which looks as good as this.

Whilst we are in the midst of this economic downturn it is things like this which inspire me to try my hand at some craft. I might not be able to turn out one of these anytime soon but it will at least inspire me to replace a few buttons on an old jacket which will breathe fresh life into it.