Pattern Review - HotPatterns Envelope Clutch

Alright! After sitting at my sewing table stumped, uttering a few well placed curses and stomping downstairs, I figured out how this thing is supposed to go together! Truth be told, it's very straightforward, but I could not figure it out yesterday. But I managed to get it together and now I have a stocking stuffer for my BFF. So here you go, with my own illustrations:

Pattern Description: From HotPatterns' website, "The must-have clutch, inspired by a fabulous Prada piece seen in the fashionista-favorite SATC movie. This Clutch is perfect for real or faux suede or leather, but it will also work in fabrics like heavy denim, tweed or corduroy. Oversized, lined, slouchy Clutch has a carrying strap on the back and closes with a zipper under the front flap; flap also features concealed magnetic closures. Clutch is completely flat, and the interior has 1 large zippered pocket and a smaller open/cell phone pocket. This fashion-forward Clutch is perfect for stowing inside your bigger everyday tote-keep your phone, keys, wallet and important papers in it for easy access. Wear this killer style in a fabulous color to rev up your work wardrobe, or make it in a luxe embellished fabric for a modern evening accessory.

Skill Level: advanced beginner"

Sizing:Again, from the website: "Finished clutch is 11' high and 17' long"
Actually, I think they mean that it's 11 inches (not feet) high and 17 inches long.

Did it look like the photo or drawing when you got through? Ultimately, yes. It took me some brain twisting to get there, though.

How were the instructions? The instructions were so-so. This is the kind of pattern that, while not difficult at all, requires very specific illustrations to make it clear, at least for me. The written instructions are adequate, but I could not make heads nor tails from the illustrations of the zipper assembly. So here are my pictures of the steps for applying the back strap and the zipper. Hopefully they'll be helpful to you.

First the Back Strap: This is actually not difficult at all, but I thought these pictures might help some folks to figure out how to apply the strap, since the instructions specifically tell you that you should not be able to see any stitching on the strap itself. The first thing you do is stitch the strap to the back at the placement dots on one side:
Then you pin the strap to the back on the placement dots for the other side, turning under like so:
Aren't you glad I used such a high contrast fabric? Are your eyeballs vibrating yet? Mine were. After you have it pinned in place, carefully stitch along the stitching lines. You'll want to sneak your presser foot in there, and you have to do a little futzing to keep the strap out of the way, but it really isn't hard. Here's a picture as I was sewing the strap

Ta daa!

Next up, the d*mned zipper
This was the part that nearly drove me to drink. Okay, it did drive me to drink, but not until after I'd figured it out. The key to knowing how this goes together is to keep in mind that the zipper sits under the flap and provides the opening into the lining. It took me a while to get that point of reference to sink in.

So here's what you do. You sew the tops of the lining pieces together, leaving an opening that is large enough for your zipper. Baste the opening closed (sounds weird doesn't it?) and press your seam allowances open. Then turn the lining over so the wrong side of your lining is facing up toward you. Center your zipper over the opening, with the wrong side of the zipper lying against the wrong side of the lining. Baste the zipper in place. Here you can see the result
Sew the flap piece to the bag front piece the same way as the lining, leaving an opening for the zipper. I basted the zipper opening and pressed the seam allowances. Then I took out the basting so I could see the rest of the construction.
Place the bag front/flap piece right side up over the zipper/lining (so your wrong sides will be facing eachother). Stitch along the zipper through all layers. This will attach the lining to the outer bag at the zipper.

Once you have the zipper attached, it's really a piece of cake. Maybe I was just having a "duh" moment (qui, moi?). But it worked out okay.

Materials Used: Wild Thing Reversible Cotton from Gorgeous Fabrics. For the interfacing, I used fusible hair canvas from Pam Erny at Fashion Sewing Supply. I used a zipper and snaps that were in my stash from my handbag manufacturing days.

Any changes? Nope.

Likes/Dislikes: I love the size and style. This was my test run before I cut into my leather. No dislikes, I just needed some clarification.

Would you do it again? Would you recommend it? I am going to do it again. I do recommend it, and hopefully my pictures will help.

Conclusion: I think BFF will like it! Here are pictures of the finished front, back and zippered lining.

Front

Back

Zipper/Lining

Happy sewing, and Merry Christmas!