The Kiss Clutch Sew Along with Ellen

WooHoo It’s Sew Along time again! This time we have the KISS Clutch – a nice easy and quick sew after the challenge of the Penny Inn!  (Can you guess why it is called the KISS clutch?)

So….let’s get started! Over to you, Ellen:

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Hello everyone and welcome to the latest ChrisWDesigns Sew Along. Thank you Christine, for having me back, and trusting me with your awesome designs.

So… ‘The Kiss Clutch’ how cute is this little bag. It can be made for so many uses, An evening clutch, a wedding clutch for the bride , a collection of clutches for the bridesmaids, a day out clutch, put a long strap on it and it’s a hands free clutch. It can be a makeup clutch, a clutch for girly stuff, a baby clutch (one nappy and small wipes), a day at the footy clutch in your favourite team colours, there are numerous possibilities and the variations in fabric it can be made in are endless. I can see lots of these being made for Christmas presents, and the best part is, it’s a quick make and does not use much fabric or hardware.

Well it’s time for a bit of fun. Since the Kiss is a relatively easy pattern, I won’t be doing a full tutorial. …. I heard a whisper that Christine was wondering if I could find something to write about….lol. I accept that challenge … lol …Well ok it was tricky but I did find a couple of things that might help some people. But I did have fun trying….lol.

Requirements List:

• Exterior Fabric: 25 cm (10”) of 112cm (44”) wide fabric.
• Lining Fabric: 25cm (10″) of 112cm (44”) wide fabric.
• Fusible Woven Interfacing: Mid weight –40cm (approx. 16″). I used Pellon SF101 Shape-Flex (which is approx. 20″wide.)
• Fusible Fleece. Mid weight – I used Pellon TP971F Thermolam Plus – 25cm (10″).
• Matching Thread. (I use Guttermann Polyester).
• Small amount of Peltex for the Base
• 1 X 18mm (¾”) Regular Magnetic Snap.
• 1 X 2.5cm (1”) Internal Diameter Metal Ring for the Flap Straps.
• 1 Small D Ring X 12mm (½”) Internal Diameter for the Wristlet
• 1 Small Hook 2cm (¾”) Internal Diameter for the Wristlet

Please read all the instructions first. Some people tend to skip this part, but there will be some important information in there you will need. So gather all your tools and requirements and pick some favourite fabric. When you’re ready, cut out your pieces and also the interfacing. Following the directions, fuse all the pieces required.

Wrist Strap: So doing the wrist strap first, follow the directions and iron your pattern piece to the required shape. Prepare and iron the wrist strap tab and the front flap straps as well now too. You can follow the directions and finish making up the Wrist strap. I however am a fan of the newer way that Chris does her wrist strap in the newer patterns. This way leaves no raw edges. After ironing in the folds, then open out the short ends and line up the folded lines, right sides together and seam across the ends. (See picture) Make sure you thread on the claw hook before doing this. Now you have a circle, top stitch around both edges and then fix the hook at one end by seaming across the strap.

Exterior: Install magnetic clasp first up by marking installation points on the front exterior and flap lining, then install as per pattern. You could also use a small twist lock, it would be a good idea to use a heavier stabilizer for this and the outside part would need to go on after the flap is completely assembled. A hidden internal magnetic closure would work here too.

Flap: Prepare front flap as per pattern, some of you may choose to do a different treatment. Here again the variations are endless. You could use different coloured rings or use squares, maybe just flat strip or embroidery or appliqué or just plain. I had a plan of 1 original and 1 plain and 1 with a strip panel. However the panel one looked terrible so I cut another flap and left it plain as well.   When you’re done, then continue on and grab your lining and seam up your flap. Remember to leave the top open……. I’m a silly billy as I left the bottom open and had to unpick and redo…lol. Now I love this next part of this pattern. Chris shows you how to turn out the corners; this is how I do it and didn’t know how to explain it. However I now have a proper point turner, as I have in the past poked a hole with the scissors. Whoops.   So Turn, Press and edge stitch at 3mm as per pattern.

Body: Retrieve your front exterior that has the magnetic clasp and position you strap tab and D-ring in place. Place exterior back on top and seam bottom only, press, follow pattern and attach peltex. Now I admit that I forgot the peltex on one of mine, and sewing it in without unpicking the sides was tricky…. live and learn they say…lol. Now seam up the sides, press seams out and box the corners as per the pattern. Turn out, isn’t it cute so far…lol. Now pin the flap on and baste at 3mm. Put aside.

Interior: Slip pocket – make up as per pattern, press and edge stitch across top. I did mine a little different. I pin the 2 pieces together and on one of the short ends, I fold back the seam allowance on both pieces but the back is about 1 or 2 mm more than the front. This allows the front to protrude over the back after turning. (See Picture) I then seam the other 3 sides, turn out, press. Put 1 pin in the opening, Edge stitch the top and then position on one of the lining pieces as per instructions. The open side will be closed when sewn onto the lining. Proceed then to sew down on the side, bottom and other side to fix to lining with an edge stitch at 3mm.

Lining: Grab your 2 lining pieces and seam together along side, bottom and side. (No turning gap… in-case you’re wondering). Press seams open and box the 2 corners.

Assembly: So what I did here to make it easier was press down my seam allowance on the lining, to the wrong side. As you can see in the picture, give it a nice pressed line.

Now have you exterior body wrong side out and your lining right side out and unfold the pressed in seam allowance. Insert the lining into the outer as in the pattern instructions. Matching seams and pin all around leaving a 5’ gap for turning at the back.

Now seam together but sew just to the right of the line that you pressed in (see Picture), this will allow the lining when turned to sit on the line nicely. Now I don’t trim any seam allowance off here but I do clip around the side seams, as there is a slight angle to the sides it will sit nicer. Turn out through the gap.

You may wish to press around the seam again and then pin the gap closed from the outside, making sure you catch the lining and closing the gap. Now edge stitch that seam all the way around.

You may wish to give the whole bag a press and looky there, we are DONE. YAY!!!

So as I said earlier, I was doing some different flaps. But ended up with 2 plain and 1 original. If you wish to look on ChrisWDesigns various social media sites, you will find lots of variations for inspiration.

So thanks again to Christine for having me here again and it’s HooRoo from me here in Australia and I’ll leave you with some pictures of my 3 Kisses I did for the blog.

 

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Thank you once again for doing this for us Ellen….I LOVE your cute KISS Clutches! ….

Don’t forget, you can also join in the FUN of the Sew Along headed by Rachel of Tiger in a Tornado, in our Facebook Group. There you will find loads of inspiration from other members and help if you need it – Go HERE! Just click on the “Events” tab to go to the Sew Along Section!

Need the pattern? YOU can find it HERE!