I know, I know, based on that title you expect to to tell you how clutches came to popularity… BUT that’s not why I’m here today.

What good is a purse if you only use if for “special occasions” because it really isn’t functional?

As the designer of these clutches, I started out with a vision of a bag that would be not only sleek in design but would be functional as well. But how was I going to complete this task?

Having a bevy of patterns at my fingertips and an idea formulating in my head, I sat thumbing through them until I came upon a pattern which looked to be close to what I was wanting. Upon further study of the pattern, I discovered it was just another run of the mill pattern and nothing special at all, or at least not in my opinion. But if you do not know me, you wouldn’t know that I tend to “live a bit on the wild side from time to time”.

Quite some time later and many drafts later, I finally had a plan in my head reflecting what I think is important in a clutch and it was to the fabric center for me.

The real adventure begins with the selection of fabric for the project at hand. You can’t imagine the number of fabric pieces that can end up piled up in front of me before it finally jumps out at me and says……. “Here I am; one beautiful bag in the making!”   In the meantime, while waiting for that fabric to jump out and say “me, me, me .. pick me.  I’m the one” … I ended up with a real mess to pick up…. AND ended up this trip with 3, count ‘em … 1-2-3 selections that screamed “It’s gotta be me”.

So, what do you do when THREE pieces scream at you that they are “IT”?  Well, if you’re me, you just say “OK then, let’s go.”

So now the work begins….. color selection for each phase of the bag, base and linings, and the appropriate number of pockets, inside and out, pouches and loops – pocket for the cell phone, etc., closures, whether they will be zippers, Velcro, snaps, magnets, all these things have to be decided.

Finally, I was ready to actually begin………… after hours of cutting, stitching, ripping seams (sometimes, because I’ve discovered I’m  more fussy about certain things than I ever realized in my younger years of sewing) and accessorizing, the first of my clutches was complete and ready reveal to my sisters.

Pleased with what had developed, it was time to reveal the first in my line of clutches. I received the anticipated responses of “good job”, “looks nice”, etc, but at the end of the “show” sister, Pat, asked: “What do you plan to do with the extra strap you are offering? Do you think you could work in a pocket to store the strap inside the bag?”

First response:  WHAT? The bag is finished, Pat!!!!

My second response was “LOL, Pat, I would just throw it in a drawer and forget it” , but then I realized, I had NOT created the perfect clutch .. and evidently it was not finished YET …. (smh)

But that’s what we do, we work together to improve and make an exceptional product to you. Me? What did I do? Back to the “Sewing Room” to design a storage method for the additional strap…. because frankly, not every clutch carrier just tosses their additional strap in a drawer and then forgets about it.

We are hopeful that you will appreciate the small, but meaningful improvements we have made upon a standard clutch and will want to add one to your collection of bags. I, for one, don’t think anyone should be without one really nice clutch.

You can find these two clutches at our Etsy shop, along with more.. and more to come in the future.

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Check out our Etsy site to see the clutches on hand, and know that more are to come!

in the mean time….

Live Every Moment, Love Beyond Words, Laugh Everyday,

~Jen

 

PS:  as an added bonus for sticking around to get to the end of this post, here are a couple of other bags I created that you won’t find on Etsy … YET !!!  lol

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And my camo bag that a few of my other sisters thought I was nuts to be making.

 

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