gathered clutch tutorial

A huge thanks to Dana and Disney for doing such a great job of rounding up all sorts of wonderful mother's day projects! 

Materials needed:

• 1/4 yard each of three coordinating fabrics (you'll definitely have scraps leftover)
• 8" zipper (you can always purchase a longer zipper and shorten it, just follow the directions on the package
• scraps of medium weight fusible interfacing

Cutting the pieces:
For the main exterior, cut two pieces, one 5.5" tall by 9" wide, and one 5.5" tall by 13" wide (this will be the gathered front)
Pieces of medium weight fusible interfacing for exterior pieces of clutch: (2) 5.5" tall by 9" wide
For the front band, cut one piece 4" tall by 9" wide.
For the lining, cut two pieces 5.5" tall by 9" wide
For the zipper end covers: two pieces 1.5" tall by 2.5" wide.
Optional Parts:
For the divider pocket, cut one piece 8" tall by 9" wide (apply interfacing to half, you'll need at 4" x 9" piece)
For the card holders, cut one piece 7" tall by 9" wide (apply interfacing to half, you'll need at 3.5" x 9" piece)

Seriously, the most time consuming part for me is always picking out my fabrics and cutting them, the rest goes together pretty easy, so let's go!

Take the front band piece and fold it in half the long way (right sides together) and sew together using a 1/2" seam allowance. 

Turn tube right side out and press with seam in the middle.  Set aside.

Grab the 13" wide main exterior piece.  Sew two lines of gathering stitches down the middle, about 1" apart. 

Pull the top threads to gather, pull until the length is 9" long.  Press the gathers in place. 

Take the front band and pin it in the middle of the exterior piece you just finished. 

Top stitch along each side of the band.  Take the 5.5" tall by 9" interfacing piece and iron it to the WRONG side of the gathered piece.  This makes all the gathering and stitching stay in place nicely.  Set aside.

Make the divider pocket: 

Fuse interfacing to half of the piece. 

Fold fabric in half with WRONG sides together, press.  Topstitch along folded edge and then add another line of topstiching about 1/4" below the first line of topstitching.  Set aside.

Make the card holders:

Fuse interfacing to half of the piece.  Fold fabric in half with WRONG sides together, press.

Topstitch along folded edge and then add another line of topstiching about 1/8" below the first line of topstitching. 

Take one piece of the lining fabric and line up the card holder with raw edges together, one on top of the other baste along side and bottom edged of card holder (the plaid fabric). 

Grab your credit card or driver's license and mark with a pin how far you want your card to stick up from the slot.  Sew a line across the lining/card holder piece where you marked with the pin.  Sew one line of stitching down the center of the card holder. 

Take your card again and mark with a pin where the edge of your card is (you can leave a little wiggle room, but it's nice to keep it pretty snug to hold your cards in place).  Sew a line for the side of the card, repeat for other side.  Now you should have two card holders!  Set aside.

Making the end tabs for the zipper:

Fold the piece of fabric in half width wise, turn down each raw edge to the center crease and press (the pic above doesn't show it pressed in far enough).  Repeat for other end tab. 

Take your zipper and sandwich the fabric around the zipper, just poking over the little metal bits.

Topstitch a line straight across the zipper with a very small seam allowance being careful not to hit those metal parts!  Repeat for other end.  Trim the fabric tabs to the width of the zipper.  IMPORTANT!  The length of the zipper with the tabs on should measure about 8.5" end to end. 

Baste the card holders to one piece of lining and the divider pocket to the other piece of  lining, aligning the raw edges at the bottom.

Almost done!
                                    to continue go here:-
 http://www.noodle-head.com/2010/04/gathered-clutch-tutorial.html