Date night foldover (faux) leather clutch

Hello again!

I’m back with a new tutorial, but this time, it’s for you, not your home! I don’t know about you, but I love to have a sassy little clutch to take with me on a date. I have a baby, so I can count on one hand the amount of dates I’ve been on this year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have one & go out and have fun!

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Here’s what you’ll need:

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1/3 yd ostrich leather, 1/3 yd chipper corn yellow, leather needles, and a metal zipper that’s at least 11″. A zipper foot for your sewing machine is a good idea, too.

 

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Start by cutting out your pieces. Cut a 12″ x 28″ piece of the ostrich leather and 12″ x 29″ piece of chipper corn yellow. Make sure you put the leather needle in your machine. You’ll use it for almost the entire project.

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Because pins will puncture this fabric, you’ll need to avoid them. I just hold the zipper in place and sew slowly, but you may use a double sided tape like stitch witchery if just holding doesn’t work for you.

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Place the right side of the fabric at one of the 12″ ends against the right(top) side of the zipper.

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You can open the zipper up- if it’s longer than the width of the fabric, you may open it all the way up. If not, open it up halfway to get started.

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Now, if your zipper is the same length as the width of your fabric, you’ll need to sew the zipper about halfway down the 12″ side of fabric, then put your needle down, raise your zipper foot, and pull the zipper back up to close it. If you have a hard time, remember you can raise your needle a bit- just don’t pull it all the way out of the fabric or else you’ll need to reinforce the seam (which is an option if that just woks better for you- just be sure to backstitch a knot at all ends). Repeat on the other 12″ end.

 

It’s ok if your zipper is too long. I actually prefer to work with a little extra length on my zippers. I’ll show you in a bit how to fix this.

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Now we need to sew the lining to the zipper. Without fail, I second (or third) guess myself each time I do this despite the fact that I’ve seriously done it over a hundred times! The good news is that I’ve never done it wrong, so I’ve saved a lot of seam ripping along the way. 🙂

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You’ll want to face the right side of your lining (chipper yellow) to the wrong side of the zipper, but flush with the outer fabric (ostrich leather). You may sew right over the first seam that attaches the outer piece to the zipper. This will reinforce that seam as well as attach the lining. Remember how to move the zipper around like we did to attach the leather. You’ll repeat on both ends until both ends of the lining are attached to the zipper.

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Now that the zipper is fully attached to both fabrics, the bulk of the work is finished. Next you’re going to sew the side seams. Line up the leather and make sure that the fabrics are even and that the zipper is not crooked. You may switch out your zipper foot for your regular presser foot at this point.

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Start at one of the leather ends and sew until you get to the zipper.

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Because you’re using a metal zipper, you can’t just sew right over it- you’ll break a needle! When I get close, I quit using my pedal and begin turning the knob with my hand until I feel the resistance of the metal. I then lift the presser foot and move down just a tad- no more than a quarter of an inch- just enough to pass the metal part of the zipper. I turn the knob 2-3 times, then slowly backstitch (using the pedal & backstitch button) just a few stitches to reinforce the zipper. Continue to sew down the lining and backstitch a knot at the end.

Repeat on the other side, but be sure to first leave the zipper open a few inches.

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Once your side seams are done, you can just cut the tail of your zipper off! You may have to wiggle a bit between the teeth, but it’s usually pretty easy- even with a metal zipper.

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You’re probably wondering what to do next- the clutch seems finished, but it’s inside out! Well, this is why you cut the lining piece a little longer than the outer piece- you’re going to cut a very small piece off the end of the lining, just to open it up.

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Once it’s open, turn it right side out, so it looks like this:

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Finger press (or use your iron if you want!) the edges under

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Then see them together. I try to sew as close to the edge as I can, ensuring that each layer gets ‘caught’.

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Your lining should look like this when you’re finished.

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Next, tuck it in!

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and fold it over! You should have room for your phone, lipstick, a mirror, and a few more small items.

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Zip it if you like, or just keep it folded over. Now go out & enjoy yourself!