Patchwork Clutch Bag - Free sewing patterns

Add a spot of glitz and glam to your latest me-made outfit with this gorgeous patchwork accessory. The clutch bag, designed by Corinne Bradd, features an assortment of pretty printed fabrics, topped off with a strip of gold vegan leather for the base and a practical cotton lining. Sewing this pouch will teach you how to master working with faux leather, as well as attaching a fastening and making a tassel for the zip.

Essentials

Printed fat quarters
Cotton lining
Gold metallic vegan leather
Quilt wadding, 2oz
Coordinating zip, 36cm
Glue

1 Download the templates, then cut two printed fabric pieces for each section, adding a 5mm seam allowance and checking the shapes are the correct way round. Lay out the pieces to make two bands of fabric and sew right sides together. Press the seams and topstitch 2mm away from them in a contrasting thread.

2 Cut vegan leather using the template and sew the fabric bands to each long side. Lay the panel face up on the quilt wadding, then pin in place on the fabric section only. Topstitch again, 2mm in from the first set of stitches. Trim the wadding to the edges of the panel, and zig zag stitch. Cut the lining to the same shape and size as the bag’s outer panel.

3 Cut two patterned fabric pieces, 3cm x 8cm, then fold in 5mm on each short end and glue. Fold the strips in half and wrap them around the ends of the zip. Topstitch close to the folded ends to create tabs.

4 Place the outer piece right side up, lay one edge of the zip against a short side and add the lining face down on top. Sew along the top seam close to the zip. Pin and stitch the other short ends of the outer and lining to the other edge of the zip in the same way. You should now have two right sides together with folded panels on either side of the zip.

5 Open the zip and match up the sides of the bag’s outer, then sew down each seam, catching the zip tabs as you do so. Trim the excess tabs. Squash and fold the bottom corners of the bag, then sew across the points, 3cm from the tips to make a box bottom. Match up and sew the lining in the same way, leaving a 10cm gap in the centre of one for turning.

6 Trim off the corner points and turn right sides out. Push the lining into the inside of the clutch and press the box bottom of the bag out neatly. Pin and topstitch around the zip at the top of the bag to prevent the lining getting caught in the zip. Cut vegan leather to 10cm square.

7 Mark a line 1cm in from one end on the reverse and use a rotary cutter and ruler to slice 5mm wide fringing from this line to the other side. Apply glue to the 1cm band and roll up the leather to make a tassel. Bind the top and tie it to the zip pull. Alternatively, fix the tassel into a jewellery end cap and secure to the zip with a jump ring.