Refashion Runway - Week #3 - Purse, Tote or Clutch
9:57 AM |
| Shirt to Clutch |
I'm not really a clutch girl, but lately I'm finding that I don't need to bring the whole kitchen sink if i'm just going to dinner with the girls. And so - I made a clutch!
When I'm making purses or small bags I prefer to use children's clothes. Because they're smaller there's less cutting and less waste. This clutch started out as a child's size 4T shirt.
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| Size 4T shirt |
As soon as I saw the flower detail on the front, I was hooked!
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| I wanted this floral detail on my clutch! |
The first thing I had to do was to make sure that I would not lose too many flowers when I cut the shirt to fit the purse frame.
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| Measure frame against the shirt |
I decided that I wanted to include as many flowers as possible so I'd have to make a few changes to the shirt. This is what I did:
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| Carefully dissemble the shirt |
I removed the shirt sleeves.
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| Remove both sleeves |
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| Remove the back of the shirt |
I cut the shirt into to pieces (front and back).
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| Cut to bottom from the shirt |
Next I removed the lower half of the shirt. Save the bottom half to fill in the neck line. Save the shirt back to make the back of the purse.
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| Remove shirt collar |
Finally I removed the shirts collar.
My goal was to turn the rounded collar portion into a square so that I could use as many flowers as possible in the clutch.
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| Pin the flowers out of the way |
I pinned the flowers out of the way and stitched the bottom half of the shirt to the open neck portion.
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| Add fabric panel to make neckline square |
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| Cut to purse size |
Once the neckline was squared away, I was ready to start making the purse (and its liner).
During Week #1 of the Refashion Challenge I made a dress that I called Dusty Rose.
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| Refashion Challenge Week #1 dress |
I used the left over fabric from Dusty Rose to make the liner for the clutch.
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| Cut liner to match clutch bag |
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| Cut everything to size |
It's hard to tell from the pictures, but there is 2 of each panel.
- front and back purse pieces (one with flowers, one without)
- front and back of liner pieces (one with a pocket, one without)
I sewed the sides and bottom of the purse, then I sewed the sides and bottom on the liner.
Next I put them together.
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| Insert liner into the purse |
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| Stitch the liner to the purse |
Using the sewing machine, stitch the liner and the purse together.
The final step is adding the purse form. I'm new to purse forms so I decided to wing it. Maybe there's some magical purse form thread out there. I used what I had on hand - embroidery floss. Slowly, slowly, I stitched the purse and liner to the purse frame.
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| I used Embroidery Floss for the purse frame |
I didn't use any fancy stitching. I just took my time and used a thimble. The thimble saved my fingers (and my sanity) on the corners!
In the end I decided that my purse was a little too long, so I squared the bottom by stitching the interior corners.
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| Stitching the corners squared the bottom of the bag |
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| Square bottom! |
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| Done! |
That's IT!
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| The pocket was a great addition! |
Make sure to see all of the fashions from the ReFashion Runway by checking out The Renegade Seamstress!
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3 comments
Love your clutch and the dusty rose dress, it looks great on you! Great refashions, I havent been sewing as much lately so its nice to feel a little inspiration!
ReplyDeleteMiche from Buttons and Birdcages
That clutch looks so cute and better with a square bottom! The flowered top was a good spot.
ReplyDeleteNice way of utilizing clothes. You have a great crafting hand. A clutch bag is better if it´s handmade, it makes you have an unique look.
ReplyDelete