Categories: Fashion Accessories, Bags and Totes

This DIY clutch purse adds some pop art flair using colorful stacked circles. Oly*Fun is a great fabric for this, as it doesn’t fray and cuts like paper. I hand cut these circles, but if you could cut them with die cuts and digital cutting machines. I made a clutch, but you could make it longer and add a strap for a cross body bag, or add a wrist strap for a wristlet. This bag is great for a night out on a date or with your lady friends. It’s a statement piece that is so easy to make, that you beginners should give it a try.

Project Note: I used circles, but you could use other shapes. It would look great with stacked squares, triangles, rectangles, ovals…etc. Oly*Fun comes in 18 colors, which gives you many combination possibilities. I chose warm colors, but you could do this in blues and greens, dark shades, a rainbow, or just two colors.

What you need to make this project

Materials: Oly-Fun Craft Pack in Jet Black; Oly-Fun Craft Pack in Orange Crush; Oly-Fun Craft Pack in Lemon Drop; Oly-Fun Craft Pack in Cherry Pop; Oly-Fun Craft Pack in Bubble Gum

Supplies: Black thread; A bobbin full of black thread; Black hook and loop tape 3/4" wide by 9" long; Dressmakers straight pins; Circle template; Ruler; Pencil; White chalk; Sewing machine

Instructions

Step One

Cut a piece of jet black Oly*Fun 10″ wide by 20″ long. I used a quilting ruler and piece of chalk to mark out the rectangle, before cutting with the scissors.

Step Two

Use the circle template and pencil to draw six 1 1/4″ circles and six 2 1/4″ circles on the bubblegum, cherry pop, orange crush, and lemondrop Oly*Fun fabrics. Carefully cut them out with scissors.

Step Three

Fold the black rectangle 8″ up and hand press. This will be the purse pocket Fold the top down 4″ and hand press flat. This is the purse flap. Mark the folds and end of the flap at the sides, with white chalk. This will help with placing the circles.

Step Four

Starting with the flap end, lay out 4 different colored large circles, spaced evenly apart. Layer 4 small circles centered on top of the 4 large circles, in contrasting colors. Use straight pins to secure in place. For the 2nd row, repeat the stacks, shifting the placement. Pin in place. Repeat the pattern for the remaining 4 rows, pinning all the circle stacks in place. Space the last row slightly more away from the 5th row, to make folding easier later. Part of the rectangle will be unadorned, because it will be covered by the flap in the end.

Step Five

At the sewing machine, sew straight, backstitching the ends and topstitching along the centers of the rows. Remove the straight pins as you go.

Step Six

Separate the two pieces of hook and loop tape. Fold and pin back the circles along the flap edge. On the back, along the flap edge, center and pin one piece of hook and loop tape. On the front, above where the circles stop, center and pin the other piece of hook and loop tape. At the sewing machine, use a straight stitch to sew the hook and loop tape pieces to the black Oly*Fun. Remove the pins as you sew.

Step Seven

At the sewing machine, backstitching the ends and topstitching along the columns, carefully going over the hook and loop tape at the flap. Try to keep the stitches straight through the centers of the circles.

Step Eight

Fold the purse into shape. The flap the the 1st two rows of circles. The back is the next three rows of circles, and the front is the last row of circles and remaining fabric. Pin the front and back together along the sides, leaving the flap up.

Step Nine

I sew from one fold towards the opening, so the fabric can easily shift if needed. On one side, back-stitch straight. Three step zigzag stitch along the side. Back-stitch straight at the end. Repeat for the other side. Make sure not the sew through the circles, when sewing the sides.

Step Ten

Close the bag by matching up the hook and loop tape.

Step Eleven

When you’re done, the bag should look like this.

DIY Pop Art Circles Clutch Purse