Summer Internship: Day 29

Today brought on a new adventure in interning for a fashion designer.  We have worked with a couple varieties of garment styles as have previously been displayed.  Switching gears, we moved over to a different category; accessories.  Clutches and handbags/totes are the new focus!  

My hint yesterday for the new project said it would incorporate somehow with my maxi dress.  In fact, the sash used around the waist is the same outer fashion fabric I would construct into an envelope clutch.  I had to go find a couple other materials before moving forth.  I picked a lining fabric that was a nice pop of yellow with ivory print.  The fun thing with bags is that adding an eccentric lining makes so much of a difference to the overall character.  Most of the time when shopping anymore, the bags and purses are not only aesthetically appealing on the outside but also the inside.  Famous brands such as Coach are known for this simple pleasure in a savvy new bag. 

The last piece of material needed to create this project was interfacing.  Interfacing is a stiff material inserted in between fashion fabric and lining to give it structure and support when needed.  This is utilized frequently in the bottom of bags.

Once my pieces were gathered, I cut out three identical pieces from each of the three fabrics.

The next steps are so quick and simple!  Layering the base fabric and lining facing one another and then placing interfacing either on top or bottom, the sewing can begin to take place.  

It is best to go through and pin these in place so that the finished product contains straight edges.

At this step once the pinning is complete, the sewing goes around every side except for the bottom straight edge.

The stitching has now taken place and the corners must be cut so that when tucked in, they can smoothly fit under and have a clean, non-bulky appearance.  Next, we can turn the bag inside out.

This is the front.

And this is the inside!

The only part left open is the bottom so that part gets sewn with black thread on the top and ivory on the bottom to conceal will with both sides.  

The project is nearly complete!  I finish up by doing some cover stitching on the top portion that folds over to meet the bottom.  The bottom portion is then folded up and sewn on the side edges.  And lastly, a stitch is placed on the top after it is folded it over to give it a little bit of weight to be held down.

After these steps are all done, an envelope clutch is complete and ready to utilize!