... and some Placemat Clutch Bags

Recently we got asked by Artistry by Amrita (a fabulous London based make up artist) if we could supply some accessories for photo shoots she would be doing. It reminded me that I have been meaning to make these bags for AGES. So here is my take on some placemat clutch bags:

There are lots of examples of these out in craft world, all pretty much with the same premise - you take a placemat, fold it into rough thirds, and attach them down the side by sewing or with glue. Pretty simple but very effective if you can manage to get a really unique placemat! When I saw this post by Litte Miss Mama a year ago I HAD to try and find a laser cut felt one. And this is what I found at Dunelm Mill:

I attached the placemat to a piece of turquoise felt for a nice contrast.

I wanted this to be a quick project and didn't want any visible stitches so I used a hot glue gun. (NB. I did also try fabric glue that said it worked well on felt - I'm glad I did a test patch as you can see from the results):

I then trimmed around the outside so that the edges followed the shapes,  folded it two-thirds in and hot glued along the sides, and finished off by adding some magnets to act as closures.

All Done!

Whilst at Dunelm Mill, I also saw this placemat. It is completely different - a bit like a bamboo mat but made out of vinyl type material. The leaves added enough interest to make me want it for another bag. You may have realised by now that I can't stop at just one try at something!!

This one would have been easy just to glue but the ends looked a bit too raw and I felt it was lacking in something. So I hot glued bias binding along the edges, before glueing the sides as before.

 This one was less bulky so magnets didn't seem right... so I  attached a strip of velcro for the closing.

All Done Again!!

A quick and easy project. Can't wait to try them out!!