Upcycled Bow Clutch Tutorial

Here’s a quick and easy tutorial on how to upcycle two placemats into a cute bow clutch purse. Designed for only the essentials you need to carry to a wedding or night on the town. The party purse material only cost me $2.00. Super fun to make and so darn cute. Some of the pictures are a little dark – there was a “user error” with the camera..I forgot to put the camera setting on automatic focus.

Materials Needed Purse:

Two 12 x 18 placemats (on sale.)
Thread should match placemats
Heavy-duty sewing machine needle, used for jeans or leather.

Step 1:

Fold one placemat to make the clutch with a flap. The body of the purse should be 7 inches in width. The top flap should be folded over 5 inches.

Cut the strap, bow and bow tie. See step 2 for measurements.

Step 2:

Cut bow 4 inches width x 9 inches length Retain as much of the sewn edges as possible. Saves on sewing.

Cut the strap closure 2 inches width x 16 inches length Retain the sewn edges to save sewing time.

Cut the bow tie 2 inches width x 5 inches length.

Step 3:

Fold the bow and strap raw edges in between the main fabric and the lining matching the sewn edges and iron. This will mark your edges and make sewing easier. Pin to hold before sewing

Fold the bow tie in half matching the raw edges together. Fold the edges along the length of the tie and iron to create a tie that is 1/2 inch wide. Pin to hold before sewing together. Sew a binding or zigzag sitch on each end of the tie, and sew a single stitch along the folded edge to add a decorative touch.

Step 4:

Place your strap 4 inches from the bottom of the purse and tuck the ends inside the purse. The flap of the purse should tuck behind the strap when closed, and not expose the bottom of the flap. Pin in place and sew the edges closed.

Sew directly over the finished seam to have a perfect finished edge. Make sure your using a heavy-duty needle used for jeans or leather. The material gets thick when sewn together.

Step 5:

Take the bow and pinch the center until you get your desired effect. Wrap the bow tie around the bow and the center of the strap then sew the ends together. Turn the bow tie to the opposite side to hide the exposed ends. Make sure your seam is behind the strap.