There are other tutorials out there for a foldover clutch. I liked the idea of adding a stripe down the center and adding some fun leather and stitching details.
If you would like to sew up one yourself, keep reading.
Materials I used:
Main body was a neutral colored 7oz. Duck Canvas
Stripe was a non-fray synthetic suede
Lining was a cotton scrap
Leather accents were from a used purse, but could also use any scrap leather or leather from craft store.
Craft weight interfacing
10” zipper in coordinating color, I used mine from a old purse.
Coordinating thread, I used a extra strong thread strength, this made the thread thicker which makes it show up better in detailing.
First you need to cut out all your pieces. I find a rotary mat and cutter work great for square/rectangular shapes.
In your main color fabric cut:
(4) 4 1/4” x 14” strips
In your coordinating suede fabric cut:
(2) 2 1/2” x 14” strips
In your lining fabric cut:
(2) 10” x 14” strips
In your leather fabric cut:
(1) 8”x4” strip, (1) 1 1/2” x 11” strip
In your craft weight interfacing cut:
(2) 8” x 10” strips
Sew your main body strips to your suede strip with right sides together using 1/4” seams. You are making two panels one for the front and one for the back, each one is identical.
Iron your front and back panels with the seams toward the main body color, as seen above.
Make sure you test your fabrics on an iron first before you iron the finished product, as you can see above, the suede I bought did not take to the iron and shrank up.
Top stitch 1/8” from center stripe, on each side of strip, on both front and back panels.
Now we are going to create the hand strap.
Take your strip of leather and fold it in half, right side together, sew along the long length. Turn leather right side out, put seam to middle back of tube. I left my small edges raw, since the fabric did not fray and I knew I would be sewing those edges onto the front panel.
Edge stitch on each side of the leather strap. (Unlike my picture above shows, do this step first before you sew the strap onto the bag).
Sew leather strap onto front panel, creating a rectangular pattern on each end. Make sure you have enough room to comfortable fit your whole hand through the strap. Center the strap and bring it down approximately 5” from the edge.
After I sew on the strap I tested it with my hand and realized I needed to make the spacing smaller, so I sewed on a couple more lines of stitching on each end.
Next we are going to sew on the zipper. Pin the right side of the zipper onto the right side of the front panel (make sure you line up the edge of the panel closest to the leather strap you just installed on the front).
Place the right side of the lining onto the wrong side of the zipper, but right side of the front panel, pin through all three layers and baste stitch as close to the zipper as possible.
Pull the fabric away from zipper that you just sewed to expose the opposite side of the zipper and repeat these same steps on the other side of the zipper to create the back panel.
Iron on your fusible interfacing to the exterior front and back panel on the bottom edge (opposite the zipper).
Take your 1 1/2” x 11” leather strip and cut out the center 1/2” of it so that the zipper would peek through (as seen below).
Sew your leather strip as close as possible to the zipper on both sides, you will be sewing through both the exterior panels and the lining on each side. Then sew again on the out edge of the leather strip, do not sew down the short sides as this should be overhanging the fabric.
Next step you can do either of two ways.
1. Make sure to have the zipper open and sew the front panel to the back panel with right sides together, do not sew the lining together in this step. Sew along both sides and bottom, making sure to not sew in the top leather strip over the zipper that overhangs the sides. Sew the lining together with wrong sides together and trim seems with a set of pinking shears or zigzag the stitches to keep the cotton from fraying.
or
2. Make sure to have the zipper open and sew the front panel to the back panel having the lining attached, so the sewing sandwich should be wrong side of lining to wrong side of back panel, right side of back panel to right side of front panel, wrong side of front panel to wrong side of lining. Sew all four layers of fabric together on the sides and bottom. When near the top make sure to not sew in the top leather strip that overhangs.
In each of these scenarios you will have an exposed stitching in the lining, but as shown below the bag is so deep you will not be able to see it.
Turn the bag right side out through the zipper. Sew down the small sides of the top leather strip, making sure you tuck any exposed edges of front or back panel, so that they will not be seen once you sew the sides together of the leather.
Now go on and enjoy your new bag that you accomplished yourself!
Pajama set for Oliver.
We did an impromptu photo shoot this morning just as he woke up. I let him wear the pajamas last night, but since Mom and Dad went out and the babysitter put the kids to bed, I wasn’t around to take pictures or post last night.
So here he is just getting up. He looks so big in his crib.
Here are the shorts I finished up yesterday. I made a boxer brief style short for him.
If you notice the pink pillow, it once was Bella’s and I have been meaning to recover it in a boy fabric. Just hasn’t made it to the top of my to-do list yet.
Check out the crazy bed hair!
Done with the pictures yet mom…it’s time to go downstairs.
I tried a new process today. It’s called a reverse applique, where you cut away from the main shirt to show a coordinating fabric behind, which reveals a design.
I was working on a pajama set for Oliver and decided to do a army/tank theme.
After 1.5 hours this is as far as I got.
The reverse applique took me a lot longer than expected.
It was a fun process to try though. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It’s not perfect, but I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
I said I at least wanted to finish the shorts to Bella’s pajama set.
Well, that’s all I got done.
I promise to do better tomorrow.
It’s hard to tell while she is wearing them, but I made them bubble shorts. I think that particular style looks cute on her, since her legs are so thin.
Today was going to be pajama Monday. I had lofty plans to finish a set of pajamas for each child.
What actually got accomplished was sewing up one tank top for Bella’s pajama set.
The print is little fairies that I bought on clearance a year ago from Fabric.com. It looks great for a pajama print. I used an existing pair of pajamas that were getting to small as a pattern to make the new set.
Here is Bella modeling the shirt (with non-matching shorts) getting ready for bed.
Now let’s hope I can at least get the bottoms finished for her pajamas tomorrow…and if all is going well, a set for my son as well. At least tomorrow we don’t have doctors appointments to compete with my small amount of free time.
This lines up nicely with two things.
First I was going to sew up a bunch of kids clothes for the upcoming school year, and with school starting a month away, it was time to tackle the job.
Secondly for Summer Challenge Week 5 I was going to sew my daughter a shirt.
So that brings us to.
Hopefully in this next week you will be seeing me churn out a bunch of new clothing.
You will notice that the inspiration pieces aren’t really summery. I will be sewing some simple t-shirts, but mainly I am filling a need for my kids and that includes fall pieces, especially for my son, Oliver.
And no, I don’t really expect to finish all those pieces in the next week. I will definitely have to narrow it down to the time I have available.
Wish me good luck!
The clutch is finished…here is a sneak peak. I liked the way it came out, so I plan to do a full tutorial soon.
Here is the bag I finished up. As you can notice, I ditched the polka dots and decided to go with a stripe. I also ditched the crossover straps and added a handle.
If you haven’t noticed I love maxi skirts. I hate my legs – maxi skirts completely cover legs – it’s a match made in heaven.
I have been seeing quite a few pictures of t-shirts being tied when wearing maxis.
I didn’t necessarily want to show any skin, but I liked the idea because it gives the look of a cinched in waist when you are wearing a simple t-shirt.
So I thought I would try it.
I think even on me it looks better. Just need to be careful to not lift my arms in public!
I forgot to show you the little shirt I sewed up for the birthday boy himself.
He is in a stage where he likes to say cheese and smile real big!
I added a pocket and the back yoke with the gingham to mix it up and look a little more country.
It’s a pretty comfortable shirt, that works great for the summer.
Notice in the background is the supplies for the fold over clutch I plan to make this week.
I’m recycling an old purse for parts along with new fabric I bought specifically for this project. I’m about halfway through sewing it up, so it might be next week before you see it on the blog.
