I have not had much time for sewing since starting back at work a few weeks ago but I did sign up for a sewing challenge in January, and once I start something I am in for the long haul. I was a bit daunted when I saw this months make was a clutch using two zips and hardware, I thought that might be a bit complicated for me.
The Clarissa Clutch pattern is a free one designed by Huff ‘n Cuff and after downloading and skimming through the instructions I thought it might be achievable with what I had in my stash. I used fabrics from my scrap stash including some guipure lace that I had left over from another bag and had originally stumbled across in an Op Shop. My zips were from a garage sale find years ago, I have a shopping bag full that I am still working through. They are all 20 inches long but I just cut them down to the size I need for each project. The other fabrics were left overs from other projects, including the felt I used for my stabilizer, which worked out okay.
The cutting out seemed to go on forever. I spent quite a long time at my ironing board interfacing all of the bits and pieces and cutting multiples of all of the pieces in different fabrics. Once I started sewing it came together really quickly. I probably constructed the bag in an hour, including unpicking the main zip twice. The only struggle I had with construction was putting that main zip in. I followed the instructions but ended up with the zip facing the wrong way, twice. I got there in the end.
It was a novelty using the hardware to have a nice little wrist strap. I could only get my hands on a black swivel clip but I would have really liked a silver one to match the D ring. Since it was the only purchase I made for the entire project it would have been nice to choose exactly what I wanted, but I didn’t leave enough time to source one elsewhere and still meet the challenge deadline. I might still swap it out one day and use the black one for another clutch.
I love the inner zip pocket and the card slots. These compartments will make the clutch so practical to use. I was considering gifting this one because I wasn’t sure if I would use it but I love it, so it’s not gong anywhere!