Saturday, December 7, 2013

DIY: How to make a customized envelope clutch from your office folder!

Hello Pretty Ladies,

Hope you all are doing great!

I was tagged as 'Queen of DIY' by some of you lovelies in your comments and I wanted to live up to the title (though it was overwhelming for me, thank you so much for your amazing response on my DIYs) so here I am today back with a DIY :) Envelope clutches are very much in these days especially the over-sized ones. They are super chic and compact to carry your stuff. I have quite a few of these but I always wanted a girly girly clutch and never found one so I thought to myself - why not make one :) The things you need for this clutch are easily available and inexpensive. You can customize it and add your personal touch and trust me people will not believe that you made it once you flaunt it. So get your stuff ready and let's begin with the tutorial.




Things you will need:

1. An office folder/paper folder/file folder (choose the size you want, I chose a big one because I wanted an over-sized clutch).
2. Paper or fabric of your choice. I used an old bag which had hello kitty print on it. I never used it so thought of putting the fabric to use.

3. Scissors.
4. Glue/fabric glue/glue stick.
5. Embellishments/ribbons/stickers of your choice.

That's pretty much all we need to make this super cute envelope clutch!

Procedure:

Step 1: Keep the folder on the fabric or paper and draw an outline with a pen or pencil. This will be your guiding line for cutting out the shape to cover up the clutch.

I am sorry for the outline not being much visible in this pic but I hope you got an idea :)

Step 2: Cut out the fabric and paste it on both sides of the clutch with fabric glue or glue stick. Cut out the portion where the button intersects. Do not worry about edges not being neat. We are going to seal them up in the next step.

Step 3: Take a ribbon of your choice, cut it as per the length and breadth of the folder. Now glue the ribbon over the edges such that half of it is glued to the front side and half on the back to ensure that we are sealing in the edges of the fabric we glued on to (the image below is the back side of the clutch).



Step 4: Add a cute fabric flower, stick some stickers. Add embellishments of your choice or you can make them on your own if you are a DIY freak like me ;) This is how your clutch will look now.



Step 5: Adding a cute little bow on the flap. 
To make this bow, cut out a relatively big rectangle (depending on the size you want for the bow). 

Fold the rectangle via its length from the upper half. Fold the lower half of the rectangle via its length such that it partially overlaps the already folded portion.

Fold it from one end via its breadth and fold the other half to overlap again. Stick this last folded portion to its base using fabric glue or glue stick.

Now scrunch the rectangle so formed and fasten it with a cello tape. Wrap up the middle with a small fabric cut out and glue this to the flap of your clutch! 

If you want to skip the bow, you can add a brooch or a button on the flap.

Tada!! The Final clutch:



Wasn't it super easy and a fun DIY? See how I transformed an office folder or envelope into a chic and compact envelope clutch! You can put bubble wrap paper inside the clutch to make it thicker or you can opt for a thicker folder in the first place.

I made this clutch in almost 50 INR!! Can you believe it? I got the folder for 20 bucks and other stuff amounts to 30 INR. Maybe it will go up if you use different stuff but still it will be an inexpensive one :)

The basic idea is to transform the folder into an envelope clutch by covering it with fabric, paper or even leather or vinyl. Once the basic clutch is done, you can decorate it in tonnes of different ways. Like I say sky is the limit when it comes to imagination and creativity! I have ordered some art and craft stuff from an online craft store and waiting for it to arrive. Once that arrives, I will be back with another DIY to prepare a different clutch with different accessories combined with a DIY embellishment for the clutch. So stay tuned girls! Till then do try this super easy clutch and you can share your recreations with me :) 

How did you find this DIY? Do share your thoughts via comments. I love reading them :)

Take Care,

Love,
Mayuri