My newest craft obsession - Necessary clutch wallets!

Earlier this month I decided that my life wasn't crazy enough, so I picked the Necessary Clutch Wallet as my 'go-to' gift this year - which meant I had to make at least 4 (my Mom, both Sister-in-Law's and my Mother in Law).  The first one took me ALL day to finish, but by the 4th one, I think I was under 3 (interrupted) hours.  The hardest part was picking fabric that went together and matched the personality of the recipient.

The pattern was well written, and only had a few pieces, but they way they are put together is what really makes it!  I stared at the pictures online, trying to decipher how it was put together, then I finally broke down and bought the pattern (my reward to myself for finally finishing my mom's purse!  Only 6 months after her birthday, new record!)  There are several modifications on the Emmaline Bags blog Including how to do different closures, add a shoulder strap and a wrist strap.  The shoulder strap is perfect length, putting it just under my arm where it is easy to pinch it next to my body so it doesn't swing around.  I will probably use it as a wallet for the most part, but that added versatility is great!

My Sister in Law's were easy, one loves purple, the other loves green.  I broke into my stash of Simply Color by V&Co for them.  This was also my first attempt at the pattern and I was hoping to use a trial fabric, but had no time for practice!

 

 

 

The pattern calls for a twist lock clasp, but I couldn't find the right one locally and didn't have time to wait for one ordered online.  (Yay for procrastination!) Instead I found some swing locks at my local leather shop and I think I like them even more!

 

The green clutch matches the fabric I used for my Sister-in-law's purse earlier this year.  I've used this fabric a lot, and now I'm wishing I had bought more because I'm almost to the end of my stash of this fabric!  Maybe I need to hoard, er-- stock up, on it while I can still get it from a few places!

 



 (Someday I'll get better at the picture taking!)

The clutch for my Mom was made using fabric from Joann's quilting line, some I found on clearance and knew I needed!  Since this one would be used more as a wallet than a clutch, I didn't bother with the attachment for the strap.

 

 

I really like the simplicity of the solid colored inside, kind of restful after the busy outside!  That and I couldn't find a fabric pattern for the inside that went with the outside...anything I tried just made me squint because of the crazy combination.  It's not obvious in the pictures, but the outer fabric shaded from white to a dark teal that perfectly matched the inside color.

 

The hardest one to finish was the one for my Mother in Law.  I had asked a friend to make zipper pulls to match the fabrics, but since I was running out of time to get them shipped to me and hadn't decided on what to do for hers, I just went with "bright colors - reds, oranges, yellows."

 

These are the amazing pulls she came up with, I almost didn't want to put them on the clutches! 

 

 

 

 

Using the bright colors as a guide, I finally decided on fabric I had picked up in a destash from another on-line friend.  My next challenge was finding a zipper that matched since I somehow had gone through my pile of zippers and only had purple and aqua left which did NOT match! Of course it was also Christmas Eve-Eve, so going out to the stores was risking my own life, not to mention that I didn't want to waste hours just to pick up one zipper.   Finally, after about 20 minutes rooting through my supplies, cursing my lack of organization, and questioning my children on if they had 'accidentally' walked off with any zippers, I found a grey one that would work.  Crisis averted!  I did find several invisible zippers, which don't have the loop to attach a zipper pull.  Why did I buy so many invisible zippers??? Was there a sale many years ago and I thought 'you can never have too many invisible zippers!'  I don't know.  Sometimes I wonder about my reasons behind buying stuff...

 

Anyway, this is the lovely clutch that my Mother in Law ended up with.  I think of  Bob Ross's "Happy Trees" when I see the fabric and it is such a nice and cheery clutch!  I didn't have any more of the swing latches, so I went with the push lock.  Someday my riveting will be totally centered and beautiful.  Someday!

(sorry again for the dark pictures, it was late at night and I had to wrap them still!)

 

Next up I finally get to make one for myself, then maybe a few to add to the etsy store!