I'm thrilled to share photos and details about the September edition of MAKE29 today.
On 9/22 at 11AM PST I'll be selling 29 handmade foldover clutches, every bit of which were sewn by me.
This edition was originally scheduled for MARCH. And then there was a fabric shipping hold-up. And then the ampersands sold out in 45 minutes and I thought "hmmmmm, 29? That's not going to work." I tucked the 70% complete clutches into a box and moved on to other ideas.
As I was thinking about the home stretch of MAKE29, I realized it was time to get myself out of the paper print box (literally) and get that box of clutches out and evaluate. And when I saw all that gorgeous fabric and how much work I had already done, I was like "Elise, you're an idiot. Sell these now." (See, I don't even need co-workers to have conversations.)
Here's the deal. If I had known when I started this edition what I know now, I would have made these all the exact same. 29 of the same fabric, same base, same liner. Because that would be WAY easier for me and less confusing for you. But I didn't know. I didn't know that the editions could potentially move that quickly. It didn't cross my mind that listing multiple things would be tricky.
So that said, I am listing and selling them by main fabric (so three options) and the base and the liner will vary and be a surprise on delivery. I can guarantee that every single bag is awesome and the liners and bases were considered carefully to complement each other.
The outside fabric was purchased from Umbrella Prints in Australia and is hand-printed. The imitation leather bases mostly came from an etsy shop that has since closed and a few came from Jo-anns. The zippers are from Jo-anns (I could NOT find them wholesale, but I don't think I looked hard enough). The (gorgeous) liner fabric is from a local quilt shop.
I hand cut every single piece of fabric (six for each bag) and sewed every stitch (including the MAKE29 tag on the inside liner) on my sewing machine (in the odd times that the baby was AWAKE but I had help to care for her).
Clutches are my second favorite thing to make after quilts. I'm super picky about what makes a good clutch. I like an outside that goes with everything. I like an inside that packs a punch. I like a decent size that feels substantial in your hand but isn't so big that it looks ridiculous. I love a heavy-duty gold zipper. Not surprisingly, these bags check every box.
They are designed to fold-over to be carried under an arm, but totally work as more traditional "bags" too. I did a test and though it was not deliberate, an iPad fits inside (though the bags are NOT padded like an iPad case would be).
They comfortably fit the necessities and uncomfortably fit much more.
I really hope you love them. More information here.