One of the strangest bits of work I’ve done in the last year or two was teaching Mark Watson to sew, for the Guardian / Observer DIY and Save guide I mentioned the other week.

Way back before Christmas, I trotted down to London with needles, thread and some trepidation to go and meet the man off the telly and teach him some sewing basics. Teaching people (particularly men) to sew on buttons is not in the normal run of my working life. Especially when they have never picked up a needle in their lives! But it was a fun afternoon, without a doubt. Firstly I arrived early. No-one in at Watson towers. Flat phone. Hmmmm. Then the photographer and his assistant arrived, so at least I was not alone on the doorstep and we were at the right place. All was not lost, some timing-communication error had occurred and we merely had to hang around a bit. Contrary to most peoples’ expectation of London and unfriendly Londoners, the Watsons’ downstairs neighbour rescued us from the doorstep and invited us into her home for tea and biscuits!
The return of the Watsons dragged us away from biscuits and friendly dog and instead we moved upstairs to meet friendly Mr Watson, Mrs Watson and Cat Watson, all of whom were charming. As was their red velvet sofa and gold wallpaper. Jealous.

So yeah, I taught him to sew on a button! Do read his article, it really is funny. And explore the rest of the DIY clothes repair (and other) tips in the guide.

And for the record, I never get round to repairing my own clothes. They live in a heap at the studio. I should have taken them with me and got Mark to do them.