Project Clutch

My latest obsession is the clutch purse and trying to figure out how I can make leather ones. I've been wanting to sew with leather for awhile and I think a clutch purse is a good project to start on. I am super pumped about this project and trying to do all my research. I even found a Tandy Leather factory in Indianapolis and am dying to go there and look around. Hopefully I can make it there this week. I am going to Chicago on Friday to a few fabric stores so surely I can find some leather and advice to get this project started.

I'm planning to use the same pattern I used for this purse, which I previously promised a tutorial on. In case you were waiting on pins and needles I plan to post instructions within the next week!

 

 

Wish me luck on this little leather adventure, I SO hope it works out!

Chicago: fabric shopping

If I want fabric here in Indianapolis I only have a few options or I have to order online. I am constantly getting ideas from shopping for clothes I would like to make but can't find the right fabrics. The big box fabric stores just don't have everything I want and they seem to cater to the quilter with a lot of cottons. I don't know why it took me so long to go fabric shopping in Chicago as I visit there a few times every year, but I finally did.

A friend on facebook recommended Fishman's fabrics. I believe there are several other great stores, but this was the only one I had time to visit, and it was enough! It was like heaven with all the fabrics I want and currently am seeing in stores: brocades, sequins, leather, silks, etc. Fishman's had a much greater inventory than the stores we have in Indy. I wish more than anything I had a great fabric store to run to in my city when inspiration hits me.

I didn't have any ideas in mind specifically of garments to make, but I did buy 2 fabrics. Both are brocades and gorgeous! A little more expensive than I usually spend, but worth it to have something different.

I'm anxious to make time on my next trip to visit several stores and see the variety.

These are the two that I bought. 

All the pretty buttons!