DIY Felt Clutch with Tassel

The next round of the Cricut Design Space Star is on! After making it into the top ten last time, I was really excited to try and enter some fun projects for this month. My team chose to go with the option of “fashion” and then our specific theme was “pops of color.” Our team is so diverse we wanted it to be broad enough for everyone to do something unique to who they are. The first project that came to my mind was this clutch. I had wanted to do something similar with an actual vintage doily, but thought i might be neat in a felt version. I like being able to add special things to my sewing projects I can’t find in other places.

I used three different “doily” shapes found in the Design Space for the Cricut Explore™. I simply searched “doily” and picked three that I would work.

I really like the pop of color and the bohemian feel they have. It is an inexpensive project with the use of such simple materials, many of which you might already have in your stash. To make your own felt clutch with tassel you will need:

Cricut Explore™
2 pieces 9″ x 12″ acrylic felt (one for clutch and one for doily)
scrap felt to cover zipper ends
iron on adhesive
a zipper that is longer than 10″ (mine were different sizes and cut shorter to fit)
small amounts of yarn for tassel
embroidery thread and needle
pressing cloth (I just use a piece of fabric)
glue
iron
sewing machine, etc. for sewing

First I took the felt I wanted to use for the doily and ironed on the adhesive according to instructions. This makes the cutting of felt a lot easier and then you can just iron it in place at the proper time instead of sewing. Use a press cloth when ironing with felt as the heat can damage the material. Then I went into Design Space and chose the doily I wanted (doily 2 was the blue, summer doily was the yellow, and doily 8 was the pink). I had to stretch them some to work. I made the measurements on each come to as close to 10″ x 7.5″ as possible. Then I placed the felt onto the light grip mat and had the machine cut out the image. I had no problem cutting out the image, just know that the paper backing you remove from the iron on adhesive was a bit of a pain to get off of the mat. I think it might have been because it was the first time I used this mat so it was super sticky. It all came off, but I had to use the scraper to help.

Next I cut the felt piece for the clutch in half so each piece was 4.5″ x 12″.

Now it’s time to sew the clutch together. *Always make sure to back stitch when beginning and ending sewing for this project. 1. I sewed the top end of the zipper together to keep it in place and 2. then pinned on two small pieces (zipper inbetween) of felt to cover the end. Then I sewed them in place. 3. Then about 10 inches down from the top of the zipper I did this again. Cut off any extra zipper that might be left. 4. Center and pin one piece of felt so the 12″ edge hits the middle of the zipper. 5. Keep on regular sewing foot, but make sure needle is moved to as close to the side of the zipper as possible. Line up foot so the edge is butted right up to the zipper. Sew in place. 6. Repeat for the other side. 7. It will look like this at this point. 8. Open zipper half way and turn clutch in half so right sides are facing and pin together. Sew around the three sides. Take your time when sewing over the zippers (I also backstitched and went back over the zippers a few times for an extra strong hold). 9. Clip the two bottom corners.

Turn clutch right side out through zipper opening.

Take doily, fold in half, and position on clutch.

Make sure to use a pressing cloth and iron on the doily. Do one side at a time.

Grab some yarn. I had found this package of small yarns a while back and knew it would be perfect to use for tassels.

I paired up two colors for each clutch, but you can just use one or more colors if you like.

1. Start by cutting two 6″ pieces of yarn. 2. Place the yarn you are using over your hand so the end is at the bottom of your palm. 3. Wrap around hand a few times until desired fullness is reached. 4. Take one of the 6″ pieces of yarn and knot through the top of the yarn loop. 5. Take the other 6″ piece and tie around yarn a little further down. Wrap around a few times and knot again. 6. Even out ends and 7. cut across bottom. 8. Using the top thread, loop through the zipper pull and tie in place. Trim loose ends and 9. put a little glue on knots to help keep it from unraveling.

Have fun adding some simple embroidery. I used only straight lines on all of these and was amazed at how fast I was able to embroider them. It was fun to add a little more character to them.

These would be a great party favor, wedding party gift, or to use on a night out on the town. My girls have each already claimed one, so it’s a good thing I made three. Thank you to my friend who modeled for me!

Disclosure: I am part of the Cricut Blogger Network and have used affiliate links. I received a complimentary machine to facilitate my crafts and though I am not being paid for this post, I am submitting it for a chance to win some fun prizes.

Also, here are my teammates! You can check out their blogs to see what they created.