This past weekend, I had a great time at a bachelorette party for a good friend of mine.  Now, we all know that weddings can be expensive and bachelorette-y gifts can get kind of repetitive, so in an effort to offer a gift with some sentiment (and one that followed a bit of a budget) I decided to make the bride a DIY clutch!

Last Christmas I made a foldover, zippered clutch for my sister-in-law.  I followed the instructions carefully from Elise Blaha Cripe‘s Get Quilty eCourse and I was really proud of how it turned out.  There are so many different ways that you can go with clutches or handbags.  Leather, faux-leather, cloth, strap, no strap…the options are endless!

For the bachelorette gift I wanted to switch it up a little bit.  Helping out a friend earlier this past summer, we followed a tutorial online to make clutches as bridesmaid gifts with magnetic snap closures.  In an attempt to try some new things, I decided to make that same clutch but with an actual button instead and a heavier stiffener interface inside.  After a few failed attempts (seriously, if you are going to make changes, expect to have some mishaps), I was really happy with the finished clutch!  (note:  I did not use an interface in the final clutch…there is an outer fabric, an inner fabric, and then another layer of fabric inside to stiffen everything up).

The tutorial online is super easy to follow and the resulting DIY clutch is a great accessory.  The color combinations that you could use are endless as well!

Have you tried making a DIY clutch as a gift or for yourself?  Any other sewing projects that you’ve tried lately?