Floral Clutch Cover

Last summer I picked a few things up from the local free store. One of the things I picked up was a black velvet clutch that looked like it was in high fashion in the mid 80s. Thankfully it was still in great shape, and I had the perfect craft in mind for it, so I brought it home with me.

Any thoughts on what the craft may be? That's right, a clutch cover! And I had the perfect bright and springy fabric left over from my floral dress re-do last spring.

Pieces before.

First, I had to cut the remaining dress bodice open at the side seams and top straps then sew the two separate pieces together at the bottom to create enough fabric for the length of the clutch.

Plenty of material.

Next I had to begin engineering the piece, which took A LOT of measuring, pinning, and re-measuring. Both the bottom and sides of the original clutch were designed to expand and I knew that I wanted to be able to carry just as many things in my clutch once it was covered with this fun floral fabric.

Measuring and pinning.

Once I finally felt reassured that the measurements I had taken were correct I cut the material, sewed the top and bottom seam, and basted the side seams.

Mid-process.

The basting turned out really well so I sewed and serged the seams as well as sewing the bottom corners of the clutch to make a nice square, box shape for the clutch to expand.

Measuring out the bottom corners.

Once that was completed I was ready to iron my clutch cover and insert my clutch!

Ironed clutch cover.

Now my clutch cover is complete and I can take my newly updated black velvet clutch with me to a variety of spring events. And the magnetic closure still works through a few layers of material! I will continue to make additional covers for this clutch so that I can use it in all seasons, but may design the pattern a little bit differently next time as the back of the clutch cover doesn't fit as snugly as I would like.

Finished clutch cover.