See and Do | 1 Clutch : 3 Fall Trends | The Basic Clutch

Call this "teaching a (wo)man to fish," because this tutorial from the oh, awesome autumn issue will show you how to construct a basic clutch purse just asking to be customized in a thousand and one ways. A change in material and a few small variations turn this basic clutch into three fall trends, each of which we will feature in future posts. This post features the basic clutch construction.

Materials:

(2) 6" x 12" cuts of fabric for the outside

(2) 6" x 12" cuts of fabric for the lining

(2) 6" x 12" cuts of heavy sew-in stabilizer

(1) magnetic snap closure

Putting it all together:

one: Baste each piece of outer fabric to one cut of heavy stabilizer on each of the shorter ends. The right side of the outer fabric should be facing out. Basting is just a long, temporary stitch to hold things in place.

two: Pin the two stabilized outer pieces together with their right sides facing one another, and sew around three sides, leaving one of the long sides unsewn.

three: Box the corners by forming a triangle at the bottom corner edge such that the bottom and side seams are touching. Mark a line perpendicular to the seams about 1" from the corner. Stitch on this line and trim the excess fabric.

four: Turn right-side out.

five: Repeat steps two and three with the lining fabric, but leave a gap about 9" long unsewn along the bottom edge.

six: Install the magnetic snap closure in the lining by marking and cutting two slits in the center of the bag about 3/4" from the top, unsewn edge. Slide the closure's prongs through the slits from the inside out such that the prongs are coming through the side of the fabric with the seam allowances. You can stabilize it with a small cut of sew-in stabilizer, then finish it off by bending the prongs inward. Repeat on both sides.