date night

So I found a dress that I love for some events this spring. I even have several pieces of jewelry that work with it. This necklace, found with blackbird, Susie, Jennifer and Carol, is my favorite. What I didn't have was a good evening bag to coordinate with it all. (Lugging a giant Vera Bradley tote probably won't cut it for a wedding...)








Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol came to my rescue. This sewed up in under an hour and that includes the fabric selection, cutting, pressing, etc. Good thing too, because I needed it for that night. It's made of vintage upholstery fabric that I bought at an estate sale. I love the contrast of fabrics that's shown in the book, but I was pressed for time and wanted something simple, so I lined it in the same pattern. (Not to mention the fact that I'm trying to use what I have as much as humanly possible to whittle down the stash a bit.) The button is vintage and was thrifted too.





In fact, I think I thrifted the elastic as well. That was the only place I got stumped for a bit. I only had white and black elastic on hand. On a whim I got out my sharpie markers and colored the elastic. It worked. I have no idea if the dyes in marker will deteriorate the elastic over time, but for now, it'll do.





I did change the size slightly making the clutch wider to accomodate my wallet. Since I was using all the same fabric I also cut the pieces as two long rectangles that I folded in half and sewed up the sides eliminating the bottom seam.










There's a lot of vintage upholstery fabric in my stash. I see plenty more of these in my future. Now I need to get out more.