Pinterest Challenge: Clutch

I've been working hard to empty my closet of things I simply don't use. Going through the clothes was fairly easy, though I could go through with a fiercer attitude and still cut a few more items. Going through purses and bags has been harder. It's hard for me to get rid of a bag - partly because it's just about impossible for me to find one I want to buy - but there's just no reason to keep things like the purse I've used once in two years of owning it.

So, I'm down six purses - and I'm still arguing with myself over whether to part with one more or not. seven purses at last count.

But getting rid of purses makes me want to buy more.

I could beg legitimate need on this one. I mean, everything I have left could be used as a suitcase by some people. That's not quite what I want to take to a wedding...

But instead of spending time searching stores for the perfect clutch or small bag, I turned to Pinterest. After following a few dud links (either leading to no information or turning out not to be what I wanted after all), I found a Perfect Tutorial. I love that this clutch is more than just a bag with a zipper on the top - it's got a little flap to cover the zipper too (and an option for a secondary closure there). I'm not a huge fan of exposed zippers, so that flap sold me.

Gray flannel I bought with the hope of turning into a couple bags. Gray with dots that I never managed to turn into a baby dress. Navy with pink doodle swirls left over from a baby skirt. And my first ever zipper. Yeah. That's not intimidating at all...

I tried to follow the directions while accomplishing what I wanted - which worked most of the time... But I probably should have just followed the directions on the first time through. The major difference was that instead of using sew in stabilizer (which I do not have), I used thin batting and did some decorative stitching on the outer layer/batting to add some stability. That made my project a bit fatter than I expected, but it wasn't impossible to handle.

The doodle stitch took about 3 minutes per line, so I went with something way faster when it came to the panel that would be seen the least (covered by the flap).

I wasn't careful enough when it came to working with the zipper. Not only did I break a needle, my seam allowance wasn't quite large enough when I put in my basting stitch - so I didn't quite have enough fabric to sew the zipper to! My fault for not following the directions closely enough. I think I fixed it, but it's not quite as pretty as I'd like at the close-end of the zipper.

The outside however is as pretty as I'd hoped. So much so that I'm debating getting another zipper and trying for a slightly larger version...

Hand stitching on the snap was not beautiful. I'm not thrilled with the outcome of the snap - the placement doesn't seem right to me and my stitching leaves a lot to be desired. If I do this again, I will probably look for another solution. Especially after stabbing my knuckle while finishing up the last stitch.

I don't have a good picture of the interior but I used the pink/navy to make three credit card size pockets and two larger pockets. I'd hoped these would hold my phone, but it doesn't quite work (the bag is too short for the phone to be vertical, and my pockets are too narrow for the phone to be horizontal). After unpicking a line of stitching, it works now. I'm still attempting to find a way to cover the batting or maybe serge the open ends though...

So, there was blood and there was a broken needle, but I will absolutely be doing this again. I will probably cut things a little larger next time - if not enlarge the whole thing slightly - and I now know I need to be way more particular about seam allowance and accuracy on this. But, my first clutch - and my first zipper - and I survived both experiences!

Now to convince myself to do the things I need to do instead of making another.