I’m happy to have got around to making this great free pattern by Kylie and the Machine, ages after downloading it: her Ida Clutch, another sewing leftovers project. My Ida is made out of leftover dead-stock faux suede from New Craft House from making my sandals and some of the Atelier Brunette Moonstone viscose I used for my Winslows. My plan was to make this bag to wear to the black tie event I wore the culottes to and be matchy matchy, but due to hardware sourcing issues, it was not made in time.
Modifications
After seeing The Magnificent Thread’s great hack to turn it into a cross body bag, I was sold on making this, as I’m usually I’m a backpack person and therefore just couldn't do a clutch. I. just. need. my. hands. free. How do you dance otherwise? I therefore chose not to include the snap, as I am not planning on folding it over. Its small dimensions make this a perfect leftovers project. It's almost impossible not to be, why order new fabric just to make this?
I made my strap out of my main fabric, luckily I had one long piece left along the side of my 1/4 metre. Just like the Magnificent Thread does, I made two little tabs that poke out of the seams at the side through which you attach the D rings so that the lobster clips have something to clip onto.
You want to sew these in place when you are sewing the seam all around the bag, just slide them in remembering to have the folded side sandwiched in-between the layers in the direction towards the inside, so that when it's turned right side out, they appear with the finished part poking out (and not the raw edge!).
Sew over the tab quite a few times to make sure its nice and secure in there, as this will take the strain of the bag. I probably sewed these tabs too far down, if I could go back I would sew them higher up, closer to the zip.
Kylie and the Machine gives you suggestions for pockets, I followed her measurements, making the pocket slightly wider and sewing a separating line in the middle so I can put in my phone and cards.
Because the faux-suede only has one right side, just like I did with my sandal pieces, I decided to line the pocket so I didnt have the nasty wrong side on show at all. Plus, it's neater and easier I think that having to fold under the stiff fabric. I just cut out a matching rectangle of my Atelier Brunette, sewed them right sides together, turned it out and sewed the hole closed. Give it a good press (from the viscose side, otherwise you will melt the suede!) and it's ready to be sewn onto the lining piece.
Hardware
For the cross body version you need:
25 cm metal-toothed zip
2 D rings
2 lobster/swivel clips
Rivets
Tools: hammer, (screw driver/anvil), pliers.
I had so much difficulty sourcing the hardware to make this, it’s laughable. Despite living in a city, and trying my four nearest sewing shops, none of them had all the things I needed. I know it's good to buy from local shops if possible, but sometimes it just isn't possible as they aren't as well stocked as online. I was looking for my hardware to be in the same colour and decided that antique bronze/brass would go best with my colour scheme. This was just beyond what the local shops could offer, they’d have the lobster clips in the right colour, but not the D rings, and none of them had rivets or the right length zip. 25cm Jeans zips are the unicorns of hardware.
I ended up ordering from two Etsy shops in order to cover all the supplies, but at first I didn’t order any rivets. I sewed the bag, and while making the straps realised that I would in fact need them. A few weeks later, I ordered some brass rivets from another Etsy shop.
Where I bought my hardware from:
Thank you Zipper Station (and the lovely person who suggested it to me on Instagram!)- they have a lot of zips and luckily one in the size and colour I needed. I ordered the 'closed end metal brass teeth zip'.
However, I think the zip is actually a bit longer than 25 cm, more like 27. I had real difficulty when I installed the zip and needed to sew around it to make the seams of the bag. I didn’t have as much room as I should have had at the either end of the zip, and because of this it was difficult when sewing the seams to sew far enough away from the zip teeth. It’s turned out okay, but it’s not perfect and I can't fully do the zip closed because the teeth keep going into the seam of the fabric. You can see what I mean about space here:
Other than that I was pleased with my zipper installation, her tutorial walks you through it really well.
Merchant and Mills was suggested to me too- they do have lovely hardware, but they didn’t quite have everything I wanted either (no zip) and then I found things cheaper on Etsy.
From Leather World Store I ordered my antique bronze lobster clips and D rings. I chose lobster clips with a 20mm sized strap hole and 20mm D rings too. The size is just right for this bag. I have since ordered some more lobster clips to stash as I had an Etsy gift card to use and ordered them instead from Green Grizzly UK as they do packs fo 6, but these are bigger and not as nice a shape either.
I ordered my rivets from Green Grizzly UK, they have loads of types and sizes. You want to choose "double cap" rivets. I chose 7mm diameter ones, which are a bit on the small side in the end. They came in a pack of 50, it was very good value.
Installing the rivets
I read this blog about how to install rivets, as I had never done that before. You need to make a small hole in the fabric where the rivet will go before you put the rivets in and hammer them.
I made my strap out of the same faux-suede so it's very thick, especially where it feeds through the D ring and folds back on itself. There are 4 layers of it to get through here, and I tried using the classic rivet puncher (that comes with a rotating wheel of different sized punches) and it got nowhere. I don't have an anvil, so I made do with a screwdriver and a hammer and a piece of wood. I just hammered the (star head) screw driver in several times and it soon made a hole. You don't need a very big hole to get the rivet through.
Once you push each half of the rivet through the hole from each side, the blog says to use a setting post under one rivet that is the same convex shape. I didn't have a setting post, so I just hammered it on my piece of wood and it still did the job. They're not the neatest looking, but they're only small. One thing to watch out for is if the post of your rivet is too long it will hammer through the rivet cap on the other end. I had to shorten mine (even though I measured the depth of my fabric before buying them) by a bit but this was quite messy and squished the post.
Reflections
This would have been an easy make, if it wasn't for the hardware quest making it feel like a real faff. When I ordered the hardware, I ordered a couple extra of what I needed, since I was going to the trouble of getting something sent to me. The Ida would make such a great present, so I've got the right hardware there if the occasion calls.
I usually always end my blog saying I've got plans to make another one, but I don't think I need another (unless I make one as a wash bag/pencil case, that could be good!). The plain brown will go with everything, and it's big enough to fit all the things you want in there for a night out because of the structure made by the darts at the bottom. Because the straps are attached with the D rings and lobster clips, they are very secure and so will last so much longer than little bags like this you buy from RTW that have thin little straps sewn straight into the bag itself. Bags are one of those items you really want to be practical enough for your needs, so it's very gratifying to be able to make one that is suited to what you want; pocket size, type of strap and a big enough chamber.
Pattern: Ida Clutch (free) and follow her tutorial to know how to make it.
Fabric: Dead-stock faux suede from New Craft House / Atelier Brunette Moonstone Viscose in green.