DIY: Bow Clutch Tutorial

Hey errrrrbody.

It's been almost two weeks since I posted?! Where has the time gone? (NOTE: I started writing this post at the beginning of April. Obviously, March 23rd was WAY more than two weeks ago now. Sorry I suck).

Anyways...some exciting news in the Crosby Household... I gots a promotion!!!!! (Hence why I have no time to blog anymore!!) WOOT WOOT!! I'm now a Shift Supervisor so I get to run the floor and be the boss. When my boss isn't there, at least. It's a nice raise and considering I've only been there for three months, pretty awesome.

The craft that I have for you guys today is so adorable. I love it. It looks a little something like this...

OH, I am in love with this clutch.

This tutorial is a little more challenging, but is definitely doable for anyone who us just starting to sew. Here's what you'll need:

1/2 yd Exterior Fabric - I used linen and I give it two thumbs up.
1/4 yd Interior Fabric - any thinner cotton blend will do nicely. I used Muslin.
1/4 yd Fussable Interfacing
9" Zipper to match exterior fabric
Thread

Estimated time: 1.5 hours

1. Start out by cutting out the pieces you need.

Exterior:
Cut 2: 10" x 6" - Body of the Clutch
Cut 2: 11" x 5" - Bow
Cut 1: 14.5" x 3.5" - Strap
Cut 1: 5" x 2" - Knot of Bow

Interior:
Cut 2: 10" x 6" - Lining

Interfacing:
Cut 2: 10" x 6"

Looks like this! Folded.

2. Sew the strap.  (14.5" x 3.5")

Start by folding the strap in half long ways and press to create a crease. Open.

 

Then fold the edges into the creased center and press those down.  

Fold everything up and sew one side shut...

And then the other side. Set aside for later.

3. Sew the knot of the bow. (2" x 5" cut)

Start this one by folding the edges into the center and pressing. 

Sew both sides as close to the edge as possible.

Fold in half and sew closed about an 1 1/2" from the fold.

Trim the edge off, flip right side out and set aside for later.

 4. Sew the bow. (11" x 5")

Pin the two pieces together like so.

Sew the two pieces together on the sides, leaving both the ends open.

Flip the bow right side out to create a tube. Press this flat.

Slide the know onto the bow and set aside.

5. Start body of the clutch. (10" x 6" exterior, interfacing)

First, fuse the interfacing to the two pieces of exterior fabric.

 Should look like this...

Then you want to take one side on each piece, fold it over about 1/2" and press down. It should look like this. (This is were your zipper will go.)
 

6. Attach the bow to the body of the clutch.

Choose one of the two pieces that you just put interfacing on and pin your bow on the exterior part, like this.

Sew a straight stitch to attach the bow to the front of the clutch. Trim edges of bow is need be.

7. Press the interior pieces.

Grab the two 10" x 6" pieces of the lining you have cut and press down an edge on each like you did with the exterior fabric, like this.

8. Attach the zipper to the interior lining.

Press the zipper!! Always press the zipper!! We like flat zippers!!!!! Just a side note... :)
Take the two pieces of lining that you just pressed and pin them to the back side of the zipper. Sew down using a zipper foot. (As you can see, the lining is not right up on the feet of the zipper, but rather sewn down the middle of the zipper. Do this also).

Should look like this viewing the front of the zipper.

Optional Step: Adding a tag.

If you want to add a tag, now is the time. I made this clutch as a gift for my sister-in-law for her birthday, so I put a little personalized tag in there.

 

9. Add the exterior fabric to the zipper.

 

10.  Add Strap. Now I forgot to take a picture of it but I did this....hopefully it makes sense. You place the strap with the ends facing <---- way and the loop going ----> way.

 

Oh, forget it. Here's a picture with the directions from the original blog. Credit: Elm Street Life. 

 11. Sew the two exterior pieces together and the two interior pieces together, leaving a little space open on the interior pieces to flip the clutch right side out. 

 

Exterior pinned, and below you can see that I sewed right up to the zipper seams. 

 

 

 Interior pinned.

 

...and sewn.

 

And here you can see the place where I left the open space to flip it. 

12. Flip the bag through that little opening. Yes, the bag with wrinkle. Have no fear, my friends! Because we will soon use a special friend of mine called Mr. Iron to fix it!

13. Pin the opening on the interior fabric closed and sew shut.

14. Flip the interior fabric inside the clutch, zipper closed and press.

DONE!!!!

I really hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial. I had so much fun making this. I want to make a ton more now!!!!!!

I promise I am going to try and do more posts this summer. Life is so good at getting in the way....until next time. 

What I've Been Up To + Chenille Baby Blanket Tutorial

 Well, obviously I have been a little absent lately. I've been busy with multiple projects the past few weeks that have taken up quite a bit of time. Projects like this one for a friend that just got married...

 

And this one for a newborn at my church. 

 

 

This blanket is great for any little ones that you might know, and it surprisingly simple. The one I made came out to be a 34" x 34" blanket after trimming.

Here's what you need for a 34" x 34" blanket:

1yd each of three different colors of flannel

1yd flannel for top of blanket

2 packs of 3yds extra wide double fold biased tape

Thread

 

Step 1: 

Layer all four layers of fabric together. using the picture above as a guide, I layed the green plaid flannel face down, and then the light blue face up, the gray face up and the cobalt on top face up. 

Step 2: 

Trace the first line from one corner to the opposite corner. The important thing is that the lines sewn on the flannel are done on the biased or else the fabric won't fray correctly. Once you have one line, sewing the rest is decently easy. It depends on how good you are at eyeballing the spaces but if you have a parallel spacing foot it would help, or you can draw each line but that would take a while. I opted to eyeball it and I think it came out fine. Your spaces should be about an inch apart. 

Now, sew your heart out! This may take a while to sew all the lines. It took me about an hour; maybe a touch more. I would suggest sewing the first time using the marking on the bottom layers, but, if possible, sew the rest of them on the top layer. The blanket comes out a lot smoother when you sew on the top.

 

Step 3: 

Once you have all the lines sewn, next thing to do is cut in between the seams. (Just a heads up, the edges will not be lined up perfectly, no matter how hard you tried while sewing the layers together. This will be fixed, though, so have no fear. That's why my blanket was 34" x 34" and not 36" x 36".)

Imperfections in the cutting are okay because once this part gets frayed, you won't even know they're there. This also took a little while, and I developed a hand cramp when I was only half way done. Fair warning.

  

Step 4: 

After cutting all the lines, you will want to even out the edges. You want to make sure that the blanket is square still when you do this, so I would cut the excess off the edges first, and then square it out.

 

Step 5:

Then you will want to corner off the edges.  I used an old cracked mug that I use for storing tools in my craft room, but this created a smaller curved edge. You can use anything round as a template, depending on how big of a curve you want.

 

Step 6:

Next thing is to apply the biased tape on the edges. As I mentioned, I used extra wide double fold biased tape that came in a pack of 3 yds. You will want to pin that down and sew it.

 

Step 7:

Next is to wash and dry the blanket. I used just a touch of laundry soup and then dried it with no static sheet. This is what creates the frayed look. 

 

 

Step 8: Add any last details. For me, I added a piece of fabric with a verse from Jeremiah 29:11 and the baby's name on it. I hand tacked this on so that it wouldn't create a seam on the back where it should fray. 

 

 

If you don't decide to add any details, then you're done! This blanket comes out so soft and comfortable: I want to make myself one now! But it's size and versitility, not to mention warmth, is perfect for a baby or toddler, and something that they can hold on to for years to come. 

 

 

Here's the final outcome one more time. I think this blanket is so unique and beautiful, and much more original than any other blanket I've seen.

So, again, my apologize for being sparse. At least I have a good excuse. :) 

Tata for now...