Pure Style is homemade - simple pleasures like making a cake or running up a cushion: good for the soul and the purse!

The idea of embracing home comforts is becoming more appealing as an antidote to the roller coaster demands of 21st century life. In hip celebrity circles – a good barometer of contemporary trends – it’s just as cool to get out the knitting needles, and discuss the complexities of purl over plain as it is to rave about your Manolos.

* Buy cheap utilitarian fabrics such as calico and cotton, and look out for bargains in sales

* Collect a bag of remnants, bits of ribbon and other trims that could fresh up a collar or trim an old pair of jeans

* Buy a junk chair or table, then strip it down and paint it in a lick of white paint

* At Christmas side step seasonal angst and make your own decorations, cards and labels, with coloured paper pens and paint. A batch of homemade shortbread packed in a box and tied with fuchsia pink ribbon looks really cool