make a silk purse of a sow's ear

To fashion something beautiful or valuable out of poor materials. Often used in the negative, such as "cannot make a silk purse of a sow's ear." What do you want me to do with this tacky dress? I can't make a silk purse of a sow's ear!

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Karel	KAH-rəl (Dutch), KAH-rel (Czech)	Dutch, Czech, Slovene
Dione	[dai'əuni]
Norbert	NAWR-bert (German, Polish), NAWR-bərt (English, Dutch)	German, English, Dutch, French, Hungarian, Polish, Ancient Germanic
Reine	RHEN	French
Lorea	-	Basque
Watts	[wɔts]