Four weeks ago, I was skiing with my wife and some friends in Lake Tahoe. I've been skiing for about 25 years now, and apart from some sore muscles, I've never so much as tweaked a knee. I was cautiously skiing across a really steep slope on my second run of the day, when I fell back onto the slope, shoulder-first. I didn't fall hard, and I didn't fall far, but I instantly knew that something wasn't right. The nausea hit me before the pain, and I had to confess to the ski patrol guy who came up to me that I didn't think there was any way I could get down the mountain.

X-Rays confirmed the worst fears of the people at the clinic-- I had snapped my humerus right below the head of the bone that attaches to the shoulder. Subsequent X-rays showed other cracks that went all the way through the head of the humerus. I came away from the hospital with an ugly blue sling and a prescription for Vicodin. All they could do was immobilize my arm until it healed. I spent the next couple of weeks in a Vicodin fog. Claire had to take care of me like I was a baby.

Fashion was the last thing on my mind, but I had a big event to go to-- an exhibition that I had curated at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland. Even though she had better things to do, inspired by one of our favorite Etsy sellers, Mandinka Designs, Claire decided to take an old tweed jacket from a thrift store and rehab it into a bespoke tweed sling, complete with silk lining and some handy pockets and detailing integrated from the original jacket. The results, like everything Claire touches, were miraculous.

Now I could mingle with the museum-goers in Portland in style. Claire even built in a little business card holder on the front of the sling.

She is an amazing seamstress with Major League skills, but making your own sling isn't too daunting. If you look at a simple sling from the drugstore, you can figure out how it is constructed-- a simple folded over and sewn piece of cloth with some D-rings, straps and Velcro sewn on. We bought the supplies we needed from a local fabric store for around $6. One key part was some foam padded automobile interior fabric that worked great for the shoulder strap. Claire also cleverly worked in an interior pocket from the coat's lining as well. If you've got some sewing skills (and a broken friend or family member), don't be afraid to help them out!

If sewing's not your thing, you're not out of luck. There are companies out there that specialize in "disability chic." One of my favorites is a company called Broken Beauties that specializes in slings that come in all sorts of fabrics. They even have a few masculine "business-friendly" slings in pinstripes and neutral fabrics, but nothing that comes close to my bespoke tweed sling. If you're on crutches, Broken Beauties also sells cast covers and a variety of accessories for your crutches, including "crutch buns" (pictured below) and "crutch muffins" (my new favorite word) that pad and cover the entire crutch.

Four weeks on, I'm healing well. I should be out of my sling in about two weeks. I'm even wearing a type of arm restraint that keeps my arm pinned against my side, but lets my hands free, enabling me to do a little bit of typing. I've discovered a whole new world--a world that I'm hoping I'll never have to experience again.

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