DIY Gold Zara sequin clutch

You have probably all seen the gorgeous sequinned Zara clutch that is now sold out in all stores and online.

Image: Zara

When I first saw the clutch online I wanted it so much but typically didn't order it at the time and then when I went back they had all gone!

As I simply couldn't live without I decided to make it myself.

Firstly it seems to be impossible to get hold of sequinned material at any shops or online in the UK  so I turned my sights to the wonders of Ebay. Here I searched for sequinned clothes (tops, dress etc) that would be the perfect victims for my latest DIY.

Here is the sequinned bolero I found:

I started by cutting off the sleeves along the hems so that I was left with a flat piece of the material

Here is the piece we can now actually work with (regardless of what item of clothing you used it would still be necessary to separate all the seams)

Now choose your lining - the Zara clutch has a black zip and appears darker than the sequinned material I have used so I chose a dark and quite coarse fabric to stiffen up the clutch once finished.

Once you have measured out the lining, split the lining in half ready for sewing to the outer material.

Now we need to attach the zip, this process took all hands and a few more to wrestle with the layers so I couldn't take any pictures however this tutorial here is a good one for learning how to attach zips into clutches with a lining!

Once the zip is attached to one side, it should look like this

Open up the zip and now do the same for the other side so that it is attached to the zip. If you pull the outside through the opening in the zip you should be left with essentially a tube.

If you did turn it the right way out, turn it back inside out to sew up the sides. First sew the outer sequinned material down the sides

Then sew along the sides of the lining material

Now you should have something that looks like this

If you now turn the clutch the right way out (so pull the sequinned material through the zip) you will see that the only thing left to do is to sort out the bottom of the lining. Some people sew a little way along and leave a few inches whilst it is still inside out but I have always found when using any materials other than thin cotton it is very difficult to pull through the small hole!

I turned about 1/2" of the lining in on itself at the top and pinned it.

I then used my sewing machine to top stitch all the way along the pinned line.

Push the lining you have jut finished sewing through the opening in the zip and push out the corners of the bag using something like a spoon handle.

And voila! your clutch is complete!