"You can't make a silk purse out of sow's ear.&q
You can probably guess what that means, if you know what a \"sow\" is...A sow is a female pig, usually nursing a bunch of piglets.
Guessed what the meaning is yet?
Definition:
If you used the wrong material, no matter what you do, you can't
make it work.
Closest Chinese Equivalent Saying
腐木不成材，perhaps?
Origin
Jonathan Swift first coined the phrase, but it was unsure where it
was first publicized. And there are earlier variations that were
documented by Alexander Barclay and Stephen Gosson. But Swift was
generally acknowledge as the person who started using the modern
form.
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