Clutch Tutorial

A step by step guide to make the clutch that comes in my Cats Out of the Bag Kit on Spoonflower.
It also applies to these kits:

You will need a 14" zipper to complete this bag.

Start by cutting out the two fabric pieces along the black lines and  leaving the white border all the way around.

Pin the zipper to one of the long edges of the lining with both the fabric and the zipper facing up.
Keep the heads of your pins on the inmost side so they don't get in the way when sewing.

Sew along the outmost side of the zipper. 

I like to go over it twice just to make it a little more durable.
If you're just going over it once you'll want to sew your seam a bit closer to the center like this.

Flip the newly sewn piece upside down. Iron the fabric away from the zipper, and sew this in place.

This is what the top should look like when you finish.
It leaves the top of the zipper completely free.

Just like before you're pinning the other long side of the lining to the free side of the zipper with both the zipper and the lining facing up. The fabric should fold up like a C.

Sew along the zipper like you did on the previous side.

Turn the fabric tube that you now have inside out and iron the lining back.

Unzip the tube like this.

This allows you to sew this side back down. Start your seam from the open end.

If you can't sew all the way to the end from this direction, that's okay. Get as close as you can.
Then flip it around and sew from the other side. 

Take the outer fabric, and iron the seam allowance back along the long edges
making sure that none of the white seam allowance is showing on the front.

Pin outer fabric on top the zipper making sure that both the zipper and the outer fabric are facing up.
Also check that this is aligned with the lining fabric underneath the zipper. Sew in place. 

When you get to the end of the zipper it does look better if you get it in one straight line.
This seam WILL be visible on the finished bag. Repeat on the other side.

When you've sewn both sides it should look like this. You want to take this middle (lining) portion and pull it out.

You will end up turning everything  inside out.

And this is what it should look like.

Take the top end of the zipper when zipped and sew it together with a needle and thread outside of the seam allowance.

It doesn't have to be pretty. It's going to hold the end together, because the next step is to unzip the zipper at least halfway. I trimmed off the excess here.

Go to the corners and cut a small line from the tip up to where the pink and blue areas meet.

This is what it looks like underneath.

Pin the short sides together. On one side mark a gap for turning on the lining. 
Sew together in a straight line just within the printed area making sure to not sew your gap.
It should look like this on the corners. Trim a bit off the corner in the seam allowance.

Flatten your corners like this, pin, and sew together making sure that your seam is a bit behind the tip of your cuts.

Turn inside out through the gap you left earlier.

Close opening with ladder stitch,
and push the lining in place to finish!


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