Necessary Clutch Wallets

These are my #2-4 Necessary Clutch Wallets (NCW) by Emmaline Bags.  I've already blogged about my first one. That one turned out ok, the stitching is wonky and it was uneven on the inside. I've never used it, I use it as a reference piece. 

#2 and #3 were gifts, and #4 is for me. I like making these wallets. They still take me forever to make, but because I understand the steps it's kind of relaxing. I heard if you make a bunch at a time (assembly line style) you can knock them out pretty fast.  I really want to make more bags and I have several patterns in my "To Be Purchased" list but bags require a lot of hardware. And all that hardware has to be imported in to me. But the Bag of the Month Club has a pretty cool January bag, so I need to do some shopping. 

#2  I ordered this fabric from an Etsy store in Mexico. The colors are vibrant but I wasn't expecting the fabric type. I was expecting a really thick cotton, but it was very thin (sheer) and shifted while I was sewing. It also frayed really bad. It was a pain to work with. My stitching is a little better on this one. The front flap under the twist lock is not curved symmetrically and my sides on the inside are not even. I opted to use a 71F Peltex throughout the entire body of the wallet to give it a more structured shape.

Those uneven lines drive me crazy.
I wander if starch would have helped.

For #3 I used fabric by Joel Dewberry from the Aviary 1 and 2 collection. I love fabric with animals on it. I did a little fussy cutting to get as many birds as possible on it. I even had enough fabric to cut out a second wallet (for me at a later date). Three 1/2 yard pieces of fabric is enough for two wallets. I also used 71F throughout the body. I love the stiffness the 71F adds, but after it was done I wondered if it would be too stiff. Would the recipient be able to put stuff inside the wallet and close it? It didn't even occur to me to try putting stuff in it to see if it would close. Duh! My stitching is much better on this one. I added a security tab in the middle, so when you open the wallet your stuff in the middle section won't fall out. The tab was an after thought and the underside of it was pretty awful. I'm also not sure the button I used won't ripe out. I added a piece of 71F to make the fabric stronger, but I'm not sure how long the button will last.

Finally #4. I scored this Anna Maria Horner fabric at the beginning of the year. She had it on sale on her website, which for me means after shipping and VAT taxes I paid the normal cost. Which is still exciting for me. Instead of using 71F throughout the body of the purse, I used a double layer of SF101. It's less stiff, but adding all your credit cards really stiffens it up. There are a lot of areas to put things but I found that I could only fit my CCs, my iphone, some money and some chapstick in it and still be able to close it. But I still love it.

Sadly below is my attempt at pattern matching so the flap aligns perfectly with the rest of the body. Oops it didn't quite work out.

The only thing I hate are my fabric choices. I love the outside and inside flap (again by Anna Maria Horner) separately but they don't match. I have no idea why I thought they did. I had already changed my card slot fabric choice (after I had cut and interfaced). So by the time I realized the two main fabrics didn't look good together I just didn't feel like finding a new fabric and recutting another inside flap fabric.

The back. The fabric is a little crocked.

I used velcro instead of a button for the security tab. I like it but I reused old velcro and it's not very sticky. :) Note to self...buy some velcro.

I was pretty happy with the top stitching on my card slots

I've seen verses with 2 zipper pockets on the inside, a zipper pocket on the back, and a plastic card slot for your driver's license. And there's lots of variations that can be done on the front flap (different shaped flaps, using 2 fabrics, piping, lace, different shaped purse locks). I need to put on my creative hat.

I have to make #5 soon, but first I need to order more hardware.

Sidenote....It may sound like I'm hard on myself with all my criticism but I find it helpful for me. It makes me more mindful on my next project if I know the areas I need to work one. I'd like to look back on these posts in a few years and see all the improvements I've made.

Things I learned: nothing new, but my topstitching is improving
Things I need improvement on: picking matching fabrics, and pattern matching
Do I love it? Yes! They are pretty fun to make. It's cool to see a bunch of fabric become a purse.
Purse #: 2-4