Today's Tutorial: Placemat Clutches

Here is a tutorial to make the placemat clutch. I provide a few different options for working with different shapes of placemats. Have fun! These are great simple and easy gifts to make for yourself or someone else.

What you need:
-Placemat
-Plastic Canvas (found near the thread/yarn sections in craft stores)
-A piece of felt or other fabric (to cover the piece of plastic canvas in the bottom)
-Velcro, snaps, a vintage pin, etc. (Something to use for keeping the clutch closed)
-Optional: Glue
-And of course, all the things you need to sew and cut :)

Let's first go over how to cut the placemats. The first example will be with a quilted oval shaped one:

1.
Get your placemat

2.
Fold it in half to determine where you want to cut for the "body" of the clutch.

3.
Cut off on one end where you chose.

4.
Serge the edge or just do a v-stitch across to secure the layers of material.

This next cutting option is for a circular placemat:

1.
Get your placemat

2.
Fold it in half

3.
Cut off the edges of one side. These will be the sides of the clutch.

4.
This is what it will look like.

A Rectangular Placemat:
If you have a rectangular one, you don't have to cut it at all. I just folded the corners in at one end and sewed them in place like this one:

You could cut it and just serge or V-stitch the edge if you like. Or you could make a flat clutch like this:

Just fold up one end to be the "body" of the clutch and sew up the sides. (I added some ruffles) All done!

Now for the sewing. To create the boxed bottom corners:

1. Pin sides together right sides facing. Bring the cut off edge to where you like.

2. Sew down the sides, just leave about an 1.5" opening at the bottom (you could do bigger if you want; the bigger the amount left, the larger the bottom of the purse will be.

3. You are going to take the bottom of the opening on the bottom and put the middle up to where you just sewed. See above pictures. This will create the box corners.

(Hint: You might have to lay the sides down like this when you sew if they are giving you problems. If not, just lay them to one side).

4. Sew straight across the bottom (the straight part you just created).

5. It will look like the first picture. Then trim the edges. You could finish it off if you like (serge or V-stitch).

6. Turn right side out. You will now have a box bottom for your clutch.

Creating the plastic canvas insert:

1. Measure how wide the bottom of your clutch is. It should be the same length of the opening you left at the bottom (Ex: 1.5")

2. Measure how long your clutch is.

3. Get your plastic canvas (available in craft stores near needlework/thread/yarn stuff).
Cut out the size of what you just measured.

4. Cut a piece of felt or fabric that is bigger than the piece of plastic canvas you just cut. You are going to sew it on.

5. Start by pinning the felt on the short sides first. Sew them on. ***PLEASE NOTE: USE A HEAVY DUTY NEEDLE JUST IN CASE IT HITS PLASTIC AND USE A LARGE STITCH. GOING SLOW TO WILL PREVENT MISHAPS. If you are worried about doing this, you could just glue it on, or hand stitch it on.)

6. Now fold the long felt sides over and sew them on.

(Picture of the top)

7. Glue it in. I used fabric glue. You could sew it on, or if you are really ambitious, cover the whole piece of plastic canvas and make it removable.

Keeping it closed:

Being the lazy crafter I can be, I just glued snaps on for it to be closed. I covered the top one with a piece of felt with a hole in it. You could sew these on as well, or you could use Velcro, or just use a vintage pin to keep it shut (see below).


Now I just have to figure out who will get which ;)
Happy Sewing!