Today's crumb honors paw-inspiring handiwork

Darius Brown's sister, Dazhai, taught him to sew when he was only eight. His first project was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-themed bowtie. It was so popular with his friends that he knew he'd found his niche. When he learned about all the family pets left homeless by Hurricane Irma in 2017, he was inspired to invest his emerging talent in helping them get adaopted. He knew they'd need to look sharp to attract attention, so he made the dogs bowties.

He soon delivered his first batch of 25 rescue bowties to New York City's ASPCA animal shelter. "I saw how happy the people at the shelter were to get the bowties, and how much the dogs liked them, and I decided to make more," he said. His goal is to give bowties to an animal shelter in every state. He estimates he's sewn about 600 bowties for animals since he started out on his paw-inspiring mission.