One of the projects that I tried for the first time this Spring was The Necessary Clutch Wallet.

I made this for a friend, who is a cat lover, and who stated that she hated her wallet every time she pulled it out of her bag. Her despised wallet has a snap that is difficult for her to manipulate, and it seemed like she was having difficulty getting a good hold of it to pull it out of her bag. To be fair, she’s been diagnosed with a form of muscular dystrophy, so she’s losing her strength in her hands and arms.

I used a turn lock because I thought it might be easier for her to manipulate. Then I added a handle on top so all she has to do is slip her fingers through it and pull it out of her bag.

On the inside it has a dozen card slots, several divided pockets, and a zippered pocket.

I think it turned out really cute. I just wish I had a reason to make more of these. This is quite a popular pattern in the bag-making world. In fact, it has its own Facebook page!

The other fun pattern I’ve had a chance to try lately is Pollies Purse Plus by Sewfisticated Designs.

I enjoyed using different fabrics and zipper pulls for these purses. I made four of them to sell at our church festival.

There is a flap that hides several card slot pockets, plus a place to put your ID.

Behind the card slots is a slip pocket.

There is one giant main pocket (and that’s where I put my logo tag on this one).

And on the other side is a zip pocket.

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve made four of these for our festival. I enjoyed choosing different fabrics, zipper pulls, and hardware finishes for them.

I used cotton woven for the exterior and water-resistant canvas for the lining/card slots.