APAD: You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

It's impossible to make something good out of an inherently bad situation.

 

Two pairs of my jiu-jitsu gi pants wore out at the knees over the years and I

hand-patched them with back pockets ripped off from old jeans. Quite a few

people thought it cool. I could brag that I had made a silk purse out of a sow's ear.