A Clutch from Vintage Linens

I've been wanting to make a clutch for a while, but couldn't decide on what fabrics to use. I've also been trying to repurpose my collection of vintage linens. So of course I was inspired to kill two birds with one stone....

This is the piece I started with. I'm not sure what it was originally. It's too small to be a placemat, and the asymmetrical embroidery doesn't look like a centerpiece. I'll have to ask my grandmother (it belonged to either her mother or grandmother). This clutch could be recreated with two handkerchiefs sewn together, or a resized tea towel. My original piece measured 17" x 10". (The tricky part of designing my clutch was to keep the pretty frilly edges of the vintage piece. If your vintage piece doesn't have nice edges, save yourself some trouble and sew right sides together, flip inside out, etc...)

For this project, I used a stiffer interfacing designed for purses and wallets. I also bought a magnetic clasp and a large button kit for embellishment. 

I first figured out how I wanted it to tri-fold....

...and pressed those seams into place for a reference point.

Next, I cut a piece of lining slightly larger than my linen.

Fold under and press the edges of the lining.

You want the lining to be smaller than the embroidered linen.

Next I cut two pieces of interfacing that were slightly smaller than my lining. 

I fused the interfacing to the wrong side of each piece.

Before sewing these two pieces together, you need to sew in the magnetic clasp. (Note: if you wanted to do anything fancy to the lining, like making a pocket, now would be the time.)

I figured out the placement by attaching the magnets through the bottom half of the tri-fold, and then stitched them into their respective locations. (I now realize that the previous picture is deceiving....one magnet is sewn to the inside of what becomes the pocket, the other magnet is sewn to the inside of the top flap that folds over.)

These magnets were so cool! You just stitch through the plastic.

Position the pieces with interfaced (did I just make up a word?) sides facing each other and pin down. 

Stitch around the edges. I tried to keep it as close as possible. You'll notice that my lining isn't exactly square....I don't think my vintage piece was perfectly square, so I just rolled with it. It's on the inside anyway, right? 0:)

Fold up the bottom third and pin down. 

Stitch along the edge...

....and a pocket is born!

For the finishing touch, I added some fabric covered buttons with hot glue. (I'm strategically covering the magnet stitching and some staining.)

I love the embroidery! I don't know how to embroider myself, so I'm really pleased to utilize this beautiful piece from my family

  

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