I thought I’d have a go at the exciting competition over at the Sew So Easy blog but I am a bit on the last minute!

The competition is to make a bag using the pattern provided here and add your own design features/embellishments etc to make it your own. The contest rules are fairly straightforward – you can read them here. The bag pattern was for a small clutch style and this type of bag always reminds me of a ‘night out’ as it’s the only time I ever have a neat little clutch bag!  Most of my life has been accompanied by a handbag big enough to carry round extra paraphanalia applicable to my stage of life!  This was nappies, wipes, drinks etc when the children were small – and now taking my mum out it’s …. well not a lot different really  🙂   (ha ha she’s not really that bad!)

So onto the clutch bag!

I chose some milk chocolate coloured linen look fabric for the outside and an orange floral print for the lining – very 70’s – more or less the last decade when I actually did go out and about as a young free thing!

After cutting out the fabric and some interlining for the  interfacing the first thing I did was to insert the magnetic snap closers.  I found pushing a pin through the marker on the pattern and then marking where it came out on the other side was a good way to ensure the parts are in the right place for matching up later.

pinning through the pattern marker

marking where pin comes out

Next I decided to add an internal pocket in the same fabric as the lining as that way it’s not so obvious where your valuables are when you open your bag!

using paper template for the pocket placing

Getting in the right place was a little tricky as I had to keep folding the bag into its finished form so as to make sure the pocket would be  placed right. I used a paper template to mark out the final position.

I cut a double sized piece of fabric for the pocket piece,  folded it right sides together and sewed up the sides.  I then turned it right way out and  sewed it to the lining, turning under the bottom hem as I sewed.

handy little internal pocket!

inside the bag

bag with my seventies beads!

I finished the bag off by sewing a shaped piece of lining fabric to the front and adding two big decorative buttons!  Just need to get my orange nail varnish and beads and I’m off!!