Patrick Grant has made a career out of doing things properly and understanding what’s worth making, keeping, and caring for. As the founder of Community Clothing—a clothing brand and social enterprise dedicated to well-made, timeless staples produced in UK factories—he has become one of the most persuasive champions of craftsmanship and domestic manufacturing. He has also earned legions of fans as the charming judge on The Great British Sewing Bee, dispensing good sense with a twinkle.

His books distil decades of expertise: Less: Stop Buying So Much Rubbish explores how having fewer, better things can make us happier—the philosophy behind Community Clothing. And The Savile Row Suit unveils the techniques, traditions, and secrets of bespoke tailoring, informed by his tenure at Norton & Sons.

Here, he shares the books, tools, comforts and rituals that shape his days: from countryside routines to his preferred Chelsea constants, including a favourite café stop just off Sloane Street.

I’m Reading…
The Code of the Woosters by PG Wodehouse. I’ve recently been a judge for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction and got to read lots of very funny books, but this is one of my all-time favourites.

The last thing I bought and cherished…
A set of Niwaki TriPod ladders. A miracle of Japanese engineering; lightweight, fabulously stable, essential for tree pruning.

My fridge is never without…
Lawkland Hall Farm milk. Fresh from the little vending machine at the top of the lane, from the cows I can see grazing from my window.

I’m watching…
I just finished Riot Women on iPlayer. I wasn’t sure director Sally Wainwright could ever beat Happy Valley, but this is just incredible telly about five menopausal women in Yorkshire, who form a punk rock band to enter a local talent contest. Funny, tender, raw, and brilliantly acted by an amazing cast.

I never miss…
Radcliffe & Maconie on Saturday and Sunday mornings on BBC 6 Music. I find them endlessly amusing and deeply reassuring; I’ve listened to them for decades now.

I’m known for…
My ability to recite several obscure Kipling poems, my homemade bolognese sauce, my crippling fear of spiders… 

When no one is around, I like to…
Dance in my kitchen to anything ravey that comes on the radio. 

My non-negotiable indulgence is…
I’m a big fan of a long bath with a good book and favourite music. I have an amazing, huge 1930s enamel bathtub.

My mental health would suffer without…
Hill-walking. I’m lucky to live on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Amazing views, incredible wildlife, and very few people (if you avoid the famous mountains).

My go-to wellbeing expert is…
British bushcraft and survival expert Ray Mears. I find time in nature to give me a huge sense of wellbeing, and I’ve always loved Mears’s simple philosophy of being in harmony with the natural world. 

The grooming staple I always have in stock…
I love the Bath House Frangipani and Grapefruit hand cream, it’s made in Cumbria and is a great restorative post-garden work.

My favourite local restaurant is…
The LaLee at The Cadogan, a Belmond Hotel. Glamorous and opulent, and incidentally serves one of the best steak tartares you’ll ever eat.

My favourite local cafe is…
Anya Hindmarch’s gorgeous café, Anya Cafe. Brilliant for breakfast (an outside table on a spring day is unbeatable for watching the world go by). And the cappuccinos with googly eyes always make me laugh.

My favourite local boutique…
The original Vivienne Westwood shop at 430 Kings Road; arguably the most iconic clothing shop in London. It’s where it all began for Westwood and Malcolm McLaren in 1971, and has, after several renamings, been known as Worlds End since 1980. I’ve loved Westwood since I was a teen, and after her sad death last year, the shop has assumed almost mythical qualities.

I’m dreaming about…
Turner & Constable: Rivals & Originals at Tate Britain. Two greats of British painting going head to head.

The place in Chelsea that means a lot to me is…
Brompton Cemetery, one of the Royal Parks; the light, the calm, the lovely dogs, it’s an oasis of calm, and while I moved to North Yorkshire a couple of years ago, home in London is my girlfriend’s house, which is almost next door.

You can find Patrick’s books Less: Stop Buying So Much Rubbish and The Savile Row Suit here, watch him in The Great British Sewing Bee here, and shop Community Clothing here.