Felted bag:
My mom used wool to knit a bag about 3 times the size she actually wanted it (because wool shrinks). Once complete, she washed the bag in hot water with a tiny bit of laundry detergent. The soap and hot water agitate the wool which causes it to turn into what we call "felt." Now this takes a lot of time and material, so you could totally take the easy way out and just buy some felt. Just make sure its not the super cheap kind, you don't want this to look like your 6th grade felt Christmas tree project (anyone?). There are countless DIY videos on YouTube for making felt clutches, so you are sure to find one you like.
Things you'll need:
A naked clutch
Decorative jewels, beads, pendants, anything to decorate your bag with
Chain/handle for clutch
Flat nosed pliers and/or round nosed pliers
Lining material
Needle and matching thread
Cutting board
Thick piece of cardboard
Scissors
X acto knife
Sewing macine
PUPPY
Step one:
Start off by cutting a piece of cardboard to fit inside your bag in order to make it taut. We were in a hurry and only had cardboard on hand, but I recommend using an actual fabric/bag stabilizer which you can find at a store like Joann's, or anywhere fabrics and sewing materials are sold. Check out this website for a detailed explanation of different types of bag stabilizers. There are even ones with sticky backs or iron ons which makes it that much easier!
Step two:
Now you need to measure out your lining. The lining should fit nicely in the bag. Lining will make sure that your bag is really elegant. Without it, the inside of your bag will not look clean and professional. This is a wonderfully easy video on making a zippered pouch with lining.
Step three:
Now that you have your lining measured out, you can sew the edges to make sure that they don't fray. After we sewed the edges, we chose to sew the lining onto the bag by hand to make sure the stitches couldn't be seen. This will vary depending on what type of bag you have.
We made a cool pattern on the lining of the opening flap of our clutch. If you'd like to see how we did it, the first 4 minutes of this video show you how to make these same pleats!
Step four:
Pet your puppy. Or kitty. Or child. Or lover. Have none of these? Give yourself a nice big pat on the back, you deserve it ol' pal!
Step five:
Now for the fun part! This is where you get to decorating. Since our clutch had a long and slim figure, I chose to place my square pendants horizontally across the bottom of the flap. I liked how this elongated the bag. Have fun with this part! This is where your personality and creativity comes out. Use beads, jewels, fabrics, anything! We used our round nosed pliers to add little jump rings to the pendants, then we used our flat nosed pliers to secure the jump rings. We then sewed the jump rings onto the felt bag in the positions we wanted them in.
Step six:
This is where you'll add the handle/strap to your clutch (if you'd like one). We used an old necklace and sewed it onto the two ends of our clutch. We wanted this to be evening appropriate which is why we kept to the golds and silvers, giving it a classy look with a bit of edge. You can make this super casual by using different materials (like graphic cotton prints or leather) and adding a wooden handle to the bag.
I hope you all enjoyed this video and walkthrough/tutorial/DIY. I will definitely be back with more of these. This was my first go at a DIY accessory project so please bear with me. Thanks for reading, make sure to watch the video on my YouTube channel!
No comments:
Post a Comment