DIY Clear Envelope Clutch

I'm really excited to share today's DIY. Clear clutches have been cool and trendy for years now but I haven't bought one for myself because I was never able to find one that I thought was affordable (re: under $20) but still cute. So, I did what I always do and I just made one myself.

I drew inspiration from these Nasty Gal clutches (1, 2) which are $38 and $48 respectively. My clutch cost about $6 to make (materials only, doesn't include tools like scissors, ruler, etc.). Not bad, right?

You'll need:
vinyl fabric (I used a 20-gauge from Joann Fabrics)
straight edge
permanent marker
scissors
craft knife
hole punch
4 scrapbook screw posts (I got mine from Joann Fabrics) or you can use studs (the kind that screw)
jump rings that are large enough to fit around the screw posts (optional)
tape

Here's the template for the clutch I made. You can certainly resize it to however large or small you want your clutch. If you use my template, you'll need about a 20" x 20" piece of vinyl fabric. The colored dots show you roughly where you'll need to punch holes; the like colors will match up to close up the clutch, except for the pink dots. I'll explain the purpose of the pink dots below.

Start by drawing the template onto a scrap piece of paper and cut it out.

Lay your template onto the vinyl fabric and tape it down. Use a craft knife and a straight edge to cut out the vinyl fabric. You could also use scissors but I like the precise straight cuts you get by using a craft knife.

Fold in the two sides and the bottom of the clutch and use your pen to mark where you're going to want to punch holes to close up the bag. I highly suggest you secure the corners, as this will keep the envelope shape nice and crisp. The other hole should be a little farther up where the other edges of the two flaps meet.

By the way, you'll notice in the photo below with the sharpie dots that I haven't marked the corner; I was experimenting and trying to decide where to put the hole at that stage and that's when I decided the corner was going to be a necessary closure spot. The Nasty Gal clutches have a snap there for a reason, right?

Punch the holes and then push the screw posts into the holes. Fold up your envelope, screw in the other piece of the screw post and tada, your bag should be almost ready to use.

Now, punch two holes into the top flap (shown in the template above as two pink dots) and poke a jump ring through each one.

The jump rings should fit nicely around the screw posts so that you can close the clutch.

Yay! It's done! Wasn't that awesome and easy?

Fill it with whatever you want - preferably all pretty things - and be on your way.

Here I am, awkwardly posing with the bag. I'm looking a little bloated; I probably could've sucked in my belly a little more, but whatever; I'm a real girl! This is how I look. My top and shoes are from Asos and my pants are from Nordstrom.  The lime green pineapple clutch is from Kate Spade and the magic wallet is obviously J. Crew. Most of these things are either super old or sold out but I've linked what I was able to find and suitable substitutes for the things I couldn't find.

You can barely see the clear envelope clutch, which I guess is the point since it's clear, duh. But despite its invisibility, I think it looks adorable and I'm super in love with it. I'm so excited to use it all spring and summer long. It's definitely coming with me to D.C. next week.

And here are a few more close ups of the bag in action.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo.