Like my felt succulent wreath, this is another project that has been in my head of quite some time. I finally got around to making these colorful, clutch purses in preparation for my trip to Key West next month with a couple of my blogging friends. My first thought was to use gold heat transfer vinyl to decorate the front of each bag with a tiny, modern block letter monogram. Before giving that a go, I decided to test the process using some white heat transfer vinyl I already had on the inside of one of the bags. I instantly loved the bold look of the white shapes on the colored clutch, so my monogram bags evolved into these cute patterned clutch purses!

Did you know you can apply heat transfer vinyl on pleather (and even real leather)? I didn’t until giving it a try and now I want to heat transfer all the pleather things! I love the way you can get such crisp, clean lines with the Silhouette and heat transfer vinyl. I first thought of creating a stencil and using paint to create a patterned look, but it wouldn’t have given the same polished, professional look that I wanted.

If you want to make your own patterned clutch purse for yourself check out the tutorial below. These cute bags are so fun to make and they would make the perfect Mother’s Day gift or birthday gift for all your girlfriends.

And if you rather buy than DIY, you can purchase one in my Etsy shop!

DIY Patterned Clutch Purse

Supplies

Silhouette Cameo, Portrait, or Curio
Pleather clutch purse
White heat transfer vinyl
Silhouette weeding hook
Mini iron
Scissors
Scrap of cotton fabric

Download free Silhouette Studio file

Directions

1. Download the free Silhouette cut file and open it in Silhouette Studio. Load your Silhouette machine with smooth, white heat transfer vinyl with the shinny plastic side down. Set the blade to the #2 position and change the material setting to smooth heat transfer vinyl. Send the design to your Silhouette and let it do all the work! The text on the bottom of the design is mirrored on purpose! You will flip it over before ironing it to the purse so it will read correctly.
2. Use the weeding hook to carefully peel away the negative space. Then use scissors to cut out each shape into an individual rectangle.
3. Plug in the mini iron and set it to the high heat setting. While it heats up, arrange the dots, triangles, or hearts with the plastic side up in a random pattern all over one side of the clutch purse. Place the scrap of fabric on top of one vinyl shape and use the mini iron to press the design for about 15 seconds. The length of time depends on the size of your heat transfer vinyl shape and the thickness of the pleather. I recommend testing this is an inconspicuous place, like the inside flap, before adhering the shapes to the outside of the purse.

Rather than add initials to the front of each bag, I decided to add a fun surprise inside! When you unbuckle the front flap, you’re greeting with, “hey, omg, or yay.” I’m pretty sure this will make opening and closing these purses so much more fun.

gold bangle (vintage) | DIY wood bangle

Which pattern is your favorite? I adore them all but I have to say, I’m always a sucker for a cute heart pattern!

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