Embellished Placemat Clutch (A Tutorial)

I've had the same handbag/diaper bag for 2.5 years now, so this is huge. My sister is getting married in November and I was experimenting for some bridesmaid ideas (BTW, she is coming out here next week for the LPGA qualifying....and she has promised to do some guest craft posts!)

Back to the purse: Jessica at Happy Together came up with this Placemat Clutch Tutorial. Here is the one I made today....and it took 30 minutes. That might be a record craft time.

I picked up the placemat at the 99 Cent Store.

I folded it and sewed up both sides. I didn't have to cut anything. I even followed the existing stitch line.

I made a frayed flower out of some brown scrap fabric (R.I.P. frump shirt)........

........and went through my jars of buttons for the perfect "center."

I attached a magnetic clasp (I used a heavy duty one that goes on with metal prongs)......

.......and tested the "volume" potential with my mini notebook and phone. It holds a lot!

My husband loves it so much he thinks I should sell them. So funny...step right up ladies...folded placemats for sale! And I've filed it under OPT: Other People's Tutes.

Update: A tutorial to create the fabric flower attached to the clutch!

By request I put together a quick tutorial showing how I made the fabric flower on the placemat clutch:

Step 1: Cut three long strips of fabric varying in width. Mine were 25 inches long and 3.5 inches, 3.25 inches and 2 inches wide, respectively.

Step 2: Starting with the widest piece I hand stitched along one edge (I secured the thread starting point to the fabric itself). Tip: Use polyester thread.....it won't break as easily as cotton.


Step 3: I pulled the thread to gather the strip of fabric.....


......and carefully formed it into a spiral, overlapping the gathers carefully. I stitched up and down through the center to secure the fabric.


Step 4: I repeated this process with the next "narrower" strip of fabric and then placed it on top of my other gathered piece and secured it by stitching up and down through the center.

Step 5: Repeat the entire process with the last strip of fabric. Stitch around the center to secure the gathering evenly.

The last thing I did was fray the edges the flower and added a button to the center. Feel free to email me if you have any questions!