BrittanyMakes

I LOVE making gifts for friends and family.  Over the years I learned handmade gifts are not for everyone, which is kinda sad, but actually works in my favor because I usually run out of time to make gifts for everyone.  However, for those who appreciate the effort and the thought, I try to spend extra time and make them something special each year.

The main inspiration for this project came to light after I found this faux leather gold fabric at Joanne’s.  Gold fabric can go wrong oh so fast, it can look too yellow or worse, green! But if you find just the right metallic gold sheen it can be perfect in all the right ways.  This fabric has a hint of snakeskin texture, is super soft, and pretty much near a perfect gold tone.  I had it in my mind to make a velvet lined clutch, and with the gold faux leather in the spotlight, I made it happen.  Follow along and you can make one for yourself! (or a friend or relative, but we all know YOU want one :P )

ONE // With your fabric wrong sides out, measure and cut the leather and velvet.  I wanted my clutch to be 9″ x 7″, so I first measured 9″x7″, then added a 1/2″ seam allowance for the two 7″ sides and one of the 9″ sides.  The other 9″ side will be the zipper side, which needs a larger seam allowance.  I gave myself a conservative 1″ allowance for the zipper.

TWO // Take your liner velvet fabric and sandwich the two leather pieces.  The two leather pieces will remain wrong sides out, the outer liner velvet will literally sandwich the leather, right sides out.

THREE // Before we begin sewing, let’s move on and prepare the zipper.  The zipper length will be about 8″, just slightly shorter than the long length of the clutch.  Trim your zipper (make sure you keep the actual zipper piece on, as in, don’t trim it off!).  Next, cut yourself two 1″x2″ (ish) pieces of leather.  Fold the ends of the leather towards what would be the middle of the leather, then fold the piece in half.  The idea is we want to cover the ends of the zipper, but you do not want a raw edge of leather, so you want to fold the raw edges inside of this leather “mouth”.

Once you’ve managed this, pin to the end of the zipper piece. Repeat for the other side of the zipper.

FOUR // (Not pictured) This is where it gets easier and begins to feel like we’re sewing a pillow.  Take your fabric sandwich from step TWO, on the zipper allowance side, sew about 1″ down on the top and then the bottom.  Open up the fabric so that both top velvet sides are facing up towards you.

FIVE // Note – we do not want to iron the leather, instead, using your hand and fold the zipper allowance ends down towards the fabric.  Use pins to keep the fabric in place.  Next, lay your zipper in place.

SIX // Using a zipper foot attachment on your sewing machine, sew down each side of the zipper.

*In case you’re curious, I used metallic gold thread (from JoAnne’s) for this project since I knew my seam would be exposed on the top of the clutch.  I wanted the thread to match the leather. Just do your best in matching your thread to your fabric.

SEVEN // Literally, sew it like you would a pillow cover.  Be cautious since you are sewing 4 layers of fabric.  Most current sewing machines will do just fine, however I have an ancient Kenmore which I pretty much need to sing lullaby’s to every time I sew something out of the ordinary.  Once you’re done sewing the three sides, cut tiny slits at the two bottom corners with your scissors.  This will help your clutch look nice and smooth when it’s turned right side out.  If you skip this step, chances are the bottom corners will look puckered and lop sided.

EIGHT // Flip it inside out and you got yo’self a clutch my friend! Beautifully lined with velvet too! (cue oohs and aaahs)

Now, you can stop here if you like.  I mean, what a beautiful clutch, right?

I wanted to add a little flair so I tested out Erin’s tassel DIY.  I changed up her tutorial a bit by using a hot glue gun instead of leather rivets, only because I didn’t have any on hand.  Erin’s tassels with rivets looks much more professional than mine, just sayin’.  Or, you can also try my DIY tassel tutorial with gold caps.  Those would pair nicely too!