Have you tried making a zippered pillow yet?  Here’s the tutorial.  If you can master the pillow, then you can make a zippered clutch!  All you need is a 24″x14″ piece of fabric and a zipper.  I got this fabric at Dorell in Fountain Valley.  They have an amazing selection of woven fabrics and the prices are decent.

Start by sewing your zipper to short end of the fabric (right sides together).  Pull up the other short side and sew the zipper to the other side (right sides together).  Now you have a loop of fabric, connected by a zipper.  The trick to sewing a zipper is using a light weight zipper and pulling up the needle to let the zipper head move to the other side, so you can keep sewing (and not run over it).  Trim the end of your zipper after you’ve attached it.

Now sew the other two sides of the fabric (right sides together).  Don’t forget to open the zipper a little so you can turn it right side out.

Iron the corners and top stitch the sides of the zipper.  Done!

//photography by Kristin Eldridge in Long Beach