Turn leftover fabric into a neat little purse. It's quick, easy and economical. Sometimes I just want to whip something up in half an hour, rather than slave over a project for weeks on end. So what's the best thing to make? For me, it's those little fabric purses that you'd pay a tenner for if you bought one from Accessorize. It puts small and otherwise useless fabric pieces to good use, and it's a brilliant stand-by gift for a lovely lady of any age.

If your favourite jeans have seen better days, turn them into some stylish slippers. The doyenne of denim, Nancy Minsky, shows you how

I am the Jean Girl - I patch, mend and refashion denim in all kinds of special ways. Handcrafting old jeans, with style and imagination, can give your wardrobe a burst of fresh fashion without the designer expense.

Trendy tea towels are wasted on the dishes. Product designer Andy Murray explains how to turn one into a watch instead

Everyone has tea towels in the kitchen drawer, perhaps from a holiday in Spain, a wet weekend visit to a castle, or even a stylish present from a design-conscious friend. Some tea towels are so quirky, or such good quality, that it's a shame to hide them away. I've made a collection of handmade, personal items from tea towels, including bags, wallets and belts. The instructions below explain how to make a watch - I hope you're inspired to give it a go!

It must have been a doddle to market Wisden in bygone days. It was not just for the sake of symmetry that we craved another mustard-coloured almanack to add to all the others on the shelf. Where else could we uncover all those vital statistics? Now there are countless websites that can reveal the minutiae of any first-class cricketer's career. Thus the threat loomed that Wisden was becoming redundant.