Rally Stripe Clutch

Yesterday afternoon, I told everybody in my immediate circle of family and friends that I was going to do the ironing.  So of course, I made a clutch instead.

I ended up having a very busy week that didn't leave a lot of time for crafting after I made the lining for my coat.  Yesterday I just felt like I had to make something.  This idea had been floating around in my head for a while, so I decided to knock it out.

I've had scraps of this stone-colored leather since last year, and I really wanted to make a clutch out of them because I love the color, but they were too small to make an entire purse from.  When I got this yellow leather recently, I thought they would go well together.  I do believe I was right!  In retrospect, it reminds me of this mani I did last year.   And the shoes I wore here.

I didn't have any fabrics for lining that really went with these two colors, so I decided to use some leftovers from the pieced fabric I made for my quilt.  I sort of wish I'd used something different, but no one will see it but me.

The stone leather is quite thick and difficult to sew because it's also stretchy and a little sticky.  I ended up having to sew all the seams with tissue paper both above and beneath the work, in addition to using my roller foot.  And because the seams were so thick, it was very difficult to keep it all positioned together while sewing.  I ended up with my stripes not matching at the bottom.  But that's OK - I still like it.

I purposely chose a part of the yellow skin that was wrinkled and a little distressed looking, to create more contrast with the very smooth stone leather.

I'm really happy with how this turned out, despite the small flaws.  I'm thinking I'd like to make some more clutches that combine colors, rather than being one solid color.  I'm also hoping to venture into making some zippered leather clutches, but I haven't worked up the courage yet!