I made my first frameless clutch bag yesterday. I have no idea why I haven't made any before as they are so much simpler than handbags. You don't have to fiddle about making handbags and trying to get them in the same place as each other.The clutch is made up from a purple corduroy skirt, a pale purple cotton shirt and the edge of a purple sari. I bought the corduroy skirt a few weeks ago in a charity shop for £1.00. I was on the hunt for some purple fabric to make a custom order beanbag frog and the vibrant purple skirt was perfect. The frog still isn't made yet as I have yet to find the right fabric for the under side of the frog, so the skirt was relegated to my velvet and corduroy stock pile.
A couple of evenings ago, I was having a rummage in my fabric, looking for something else when I stumbled across the purple sari which I had completely forgotten about. The main fabric of the sari was quite see through and, whilst the most fabulous colour, not really suitable for handbag making. I really liked the heavily embroidered edging though, so decided to chop the edging off and throw the rest of the fabric out.
As I was cutting, it suddenly struck me that the purple of the sari was the right colour to compliment the purple corduroy skirt. As soon as I put the two together I was excited. I could instantly see in my mind how the handbag would look and had to make it. I didn't have any fabric that was right for the lining, so had a quick trawl through the local charity shops. I was hoping to find a purple satin, possibly from a skirt lining but couldn't find anything in the right colour. I did find a lovely pale purple cotton shirt though which would have a multitude of uses, so decided to use that instead.
On the whole, I don't use patterns to make my handbags, I just making the styles up as I go along. I wasn't quite sure how the shape would work out or the best way to attach the front flap of the clutch. Luckily, it was really simple to construct and worked perfectly - which makes a change for me! The shirt pocket was taken off and sewn back onto to the lining to create an internal side pocket.I am really pleased with the final handbag. I think it looks really stunning, mainly thanks to the vibrant purple and the gorgeous embroidery from the sari. In fact, it has very little to do with me!
