Ali Foster Fold-Over Clutch: Take 1 and 2

The first one (red and black) is made completely by the directions. It was fun and easy to make. However, it calls for interfacing to give the bag some body, but I've been using fusible fleece for so long that I thought it lacked the more familiar heft that I like, so the second one has the fusible fleece. I like the squishiness of it much better. I also sewed the bottom corners so that it stands up by itself. Although the fleece turned out, the rest of the fabric on the second one is a nightmare. Once again, because of my 6th grade math education, I didn't realize that a fat quarter was too small to make the flap, lining, and strap. So I was going to use the fat quarter for the strap and flap and another fabric for the lining. Something weird happened with the flap (can't remember now what it was at all) so it ended up with a different fabric for the strap, flap, and lining. It's kinda a fabric mess. What's the saying? The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Hello, Beautiful: Fold-Over Clutch

Recently, my Nonna gave me a huge sack of buttons she collected over the years. I was absolutely thrilled. The day after Christmas, Anna-Jane helped me go through them and we ran across this ivory butterfly button. It was so inspiring I knew I had to use it on something. I love that vintagey, eclectic vibe. I made 2 fold-over clutches over the break from Ali Foster patterns. The instructions were very clear and the pictures walked through every step. I tweaked the pattern a little so that the bottom stands up on its own. This third one I made with the special button is my favorite and pretty perfect. The clutch has a magnetic snap, so I got to use some pliers (cool). I really like how the instructions show how to make the strap. You cut a piece of fabric 2 1/2 by 11. Iron on interfacing. Fold strip in half wrong sides together and iron. Then fold the edges into the middle crease and iron again. Topstitch. The strap has a good weight to it and the width is perfect. This pattern is too big to use a fat quarter which is kinda a bummer, but it was fun to make and turned out really cute.