DIY: Colourful Rug Clutch

Here's what I made over the weekend!

...and here's HOW!

I went to a dollar store that sold home accessories and found some thick cloth rugs that were woven out of recycled jersey t-shirts. I think people in Hong Kong usually use these as door mats. For this DIY, you can always just use a thick cloth fabric of your choice. 

basic materials:

-2 cloth rugs (or thick fabric)

-felt material (or some kind of inner lining)

-thick velvet ribbon

-needle

-thread

 step 1: fold in the ends of one rug and place the black felt fabric on top. then, sew along the edges of the black felt (to conceal the rough edges of the rug). 

 it should look like this. you should have a straight edge where the rug and felt are sewn together.

 step 2: next, fold your clutch (almost) in half. shift the top layer/half down so that the bottom half sticks out more at the top. then, cut a piece of velvet ribbon that is the same length as your clutch.

 step 3: fold the velvet ribbon in half and sew the bottom ends together. this will create a little "corner" that will make the rest of the ribbon easier to sew. hand-stitch the velvet ribbon onto the edge of your clutch (on both sides). 

 now you should have something that looks like this...

 step 4: take the other cloth rug and insert one end into the clutch. this second rug will be the outer flap.

 then, sew a straight line across, attaching the second rug to the top of the clutch.

 step 5: i wanted my clutch to have a flap that looks like an envelope, so i cut the second rug into the shape that i wanted. (however, if i were to do this again, i would sew a reinforcing line/hem before cutting, since the material started unraveling right away).

 step 6: use more of the black velvet ribbon and sew it along the edge of the envelope flap. (this will also help to cover the uneven edges). i used light pink thread to hand-stitch the edges, but you can always use a darker colour for a more subtle look. well, that's pretty much it! you could stop here...

 ...but i decided to add a few more flourishing details to finish off my clutch. i bought some black lace an interesting triangular button.

 I ended up covering my light pink stitches with a layer of the black lace and added the button at the tip of the envelope flap.

...so there you have it. a colourful clutch made out of rugs!

I also went to the outdoor market at Sham Shui Po for the first time on Sunday (they mostly sell fabrics and shady-lookin' electronic devices, wires and tools), and out of a large mountain of clothes that were selling for $3CDN, i wrestled out a bright NEON sweater that complements my rug clutch. also because i just so desperately wanted to look like a highlighter. 

Since we're on a roll, here's some more NEON for your viewing pleasure...