Róisín Gartland, artist and leather worker, recently made a pair of leather trousers for Sean Penn without even having to measure the actor.

They were commissioned by Karen Patch, costume designer on This Must Be The Place, the film Penn recently shot in Dublin, and Gartland only got a couple of days to design and deliver them.

Her skill with hide is well known and the last time we met she was showing me a new type of leather with extra stretch, perfect for form-fitting items (such as Penn's trousers, created for a former rock-star character that he plays in the film).

She mostly works to commission - most recently, a stunning black suede coat for a customer in the west of Ireland. Her studio on the fifth floor of the Design Tower on Pearse Street, Dublin 2, is where she plies her trade and where she fashions some terrific fingerless gloves in leather and suede in all colours, which would make great Christmas presents. Tel: 01-6710020, roisingartland.com.