Gathered clutch

I had so much fun making this clutch/wristlet, and it may be the best phone holder/wallet option yet!  I like my other clutch I made, but I wish I had rounded the bottom corners.  I also wish it held my credit/loyalty/insurance cards a little neater.  I saw this tutorial from 2010 for a gathered clutch on one of my favorite sewing blogs, noticed the card holder and internal divider options, and decided I needed to give it a try.

Unfortunately, the pattern of the fabric kind of camouflages the cute gathered part of the clutch.  If you look closely, you can see how the purple rose fabric is gathered behind the denim band.  It might look more obvious with a different print.  I could also make that pattern piece longer so that it gathered more, but that might make a little too much bulk.

Inside, there is a divider that can keep my phone separate from the cash, and little pockets that can hold the cards.  I altered the design to make the cards stand up vertically so I could have three instead of only two sections.  I also added a wrist strap because I am on a kick of only carrying around a wallet/wristlet thingy instead of a full purse.  I'm sure I will be back to purses again soon, but it feels so nice not to haul around a big bag for a change.  Hooray for (sort of) potty-trained kids!  I also rounded the bottom corners in the 11th hour and am happy with the result.

Ooh -- actually, it fits even better when I put the cash behind the divider and my cell phone in the middle!

I stole the hardware for attaching the wrist strap from a flash drive we have.  How's that for upcycling?

If I make it again, I will use a different fabric so the gathers are more noticeable and I will pad it with a layer of felt as batting.  My phone could use a little more protection (even with that whole Otter Box, I'm still petrified of anything happening to my precious phone!).  I also had a really hard time with the zipper tabs and want to try that whole thing again, only making the zipper a little shorter.  I think I used too wide of a seam allowance to sew the whole clutch together and there was no way to avoid sewing through the zipper tabs (which is the trick to using zipper tabs).  Oh well -- this is certainly not the worst zipper I have ever sewn!  I also should have put the strap on the same side as the zipper pull when it's closed, so I can open the zipper easier.  Whoops.

Charlotte just saw it and said "it's the coolest wallet ever!  We skould make one for everyone we know!  For Shelby's mom, Grandma JoJo, NanaB, Ivette, Miss Kym . . ."  WHOAH there, cowgirl.  Learn to sew yourself (we're starting with a few little quickie projects, including a simple fleece sleeping bag for her beloved Charlotte Doll!) and then you can start planning out future sewing projects.