More Noodlehead Gathered Clutches!

I wanted to make one of these little zippered pouches for the swap at Sewing Summit. I wasn’t originally going to post this until after the Summit, but I’m trying to get things off my to-do list and onto my to-done list! So here it is.

I had already tackled this little clutch once, so I thought making another one would be no problem.

HA.

Anywho, I fancied the teal one up a bit with a little bit of pink embroidery (those hearts are a cinch!), and then started to assemble it. Apparently I got lucky doing the zipper on the first one I made. When I turned the teal pouch right side out after sewing everything, my zipper ends were a nightmare. Tucked in so poorly that I could even’t turn the thing right-side out all the way. You don’t realize just how right things are going until they go enormously wrong. Rip, rip, rip…

Tried it again, and it was even worse. So I had to set out to discover just how to make a zipper like this work. I read about a thousand tutorials and I sewed that darn bag three times before I finally got it right. I kept trimming and trimming my fraying edges — so the clutch is nearly an inch shorter than the pattern!

Maybe one of these days I’ll write up a little tutorial so that if you’re out there and none of the tutorials you find are making sense — perhaps mine will. I was going to try and explain what I was doing wrong (and then right!) but I realized I need some photos to make it work.

So finally my zipper was right! I was so pleased! I had a bag for the swap!

Then I saw that one of my lining pieces was wrong-side out.

FACEPALM.

I decided to keep it for me and not try and tear it apart AGAIN. It matches my Jane Market Bag perfectly, after all.

But then I finally knew how to make the bag right! I was able to stitch up the brown one really quickly, I got the zipper right on the first try, and my lining is all right-sides out. I didn’t use my ripper once! The band on the front is pieced using scraps from some of the fabric I am using for my classes at the Sewing Summit. It’s lined in a really cute pink crosshatch fabric.

Not the most amazing thing I’ve ever made, but it’s definitely cute! I’ll add a couple of goodies and hopefully my swap partner loves it. I especially love the little Tula Pink ladybugs. Too adorable!