About the Artist

Rosanna Clare has created a range of beautiful leather goods, including bags and accessories, by combining her love of leather with her passion to reduce waste and to re-use. Much of the leather that she uses has been discarded from the furniture industry, or is ‘upcycled’ from unwanted items such as leather jackets, whilst new leather is sustainably sourced from Italy, Spain or Belgium. All of Rosanna Clare’s leather bags, jewellery, homeware and gifts are handmade in her Surrey studio in Cranleigh. Rosanna also enjoys passing on her leather-crafting knowledge to others via workshops for individuals, groups (up to 6), or corporate events, with clients including Soho House & Spotify.

Rosanna has kindly shared this step-by-step tutorial to make your own gorgeous leather clutch bag. To grab yourself one of Rosanna's bag kits, or to see the whole range, check out her shop here.

You Will Need...(all included in your kit when bought from rosannaclare.com)

• Pre cut leather pieces for front, back, zip ends, loops, strap & tassel
• 25cm brass YKK zip
• Interfacing material & lining fabric
• 2 x D rings, 1 rivet & 1 clasp for strap
• Coarse sandpaper
• Spatula
• Templates - download FREE here

You will also need

• Cutting mat
• Scalpel/sharp knife
• Marking pen or pencil
• Metal ruler
• Contact glue
• Masking tape
• Rivet tools (not essential)
• Iron & ironing board
• Mallet or hammer
• Sewing machine with a leather needle
• Sewing thread
• Rotary hole punch
• Pins/small bull dog clips
• Small pliers (not essential)

The interfacing is cut to the same size as the leather in the kit but with a 1cm gap at the top.

Place the interfacing on the back of the leather pieces, glue side down, leaving a gap at the top. Iron in place. This creates thickness and strength for the leather, especially if using jacket leather or anything less than 1mm thick. I have allowed for a 1cm seam allowance around the sides and base of the bag.

Once the interfacing is ironed onto the front and back panels (if using jacket leather with existing seams, try to press firmly around the seams with the iron for the best possible adhesion), mask off the top 2cm with masking tape and apply contact adhesive and leave to go tacky for 5 minutes.

Pull away the tape as soon as the glue has been applied (as the glue becomes rubbery and can stick to the tape).

Then, carefully fold the top edge over pressing down firmly to create a neat, folded edge – this is your zip edge.

Collect the zip and two 4cm square leather pieces. Apply glue to the back of the squares in a thin and even layer and to both zip ends, front and back.

Allow to dry, then fold the end tabs around the two zip ends up to the metal hardware.

Next, stitch across the tabs 5mm from the cut edge to secure in place.

Pin the zip across the top of the lining fabric. Sew the zip tape to the lining
fabric along the top edge, reversing at each end to secure the stitch.

Now apply a length of tape along the back of the zip and then press the back
panel onto the tape about 3mm from the zip teeth and press down onto the
tape.

Now stitch this in place sewing 3-4mm from the edge of the leather fold.
Repeat for the other side.

Take one of the D rings and the 6x1cm strip of leather and feed this through the D ring, apply glue to each end, allow to dry and fold together. On the FRONT of the leather Front and back panels, scratch a 1x1cm square 10cm down from the zip edge on the left corner (2 in total) to create a ‘key’ for the glue. Then apply some glue.

After 5 minutes, add the D ring tab with the cut edges pointing outwards.

Open the zip and fold right sides together of the leather and fabric and pin/clip together.

Sew a big “U’ shape from the corner of the fabric lining, around the leather back up the other side leaving a gap across the bottom of the lining.

Sew 1cm in from the edge. Carefully pull the leather through to get over the join where the fabric meets the leather.

Top Tip

ALWAYS TEST A SPARE PIECE OF THE LEATHER ON YOUR MACHINE FIRST TO MAKE SURE IT SEWS SMOOTHLY.

Bagging Out, this is the best bit! Trim the corners of the leather to reduce bulk. Then pull the lining over the top of the bag so the right sides are facing out. Use your fingers to carefully push out the corners.

Once it is fully turned out, fold the lining edges inside by 1cm and pin/clip together.

Top stitch along the edge to seal the lining, remember to back stitch at the start and end of your stitch. Burn the ends of the threads with a lighter to seal.

Take the strip of leather for your wrist strap, check you are happy with the length. It needs to be folded in half with a 2-3cm overlap at one end. Cut down if need be.

Mark the overlap with a pen and punch through a 3 or 4mm hole with the hole punch.

Add the clasp and then add the rivet and press together with a rivet press if you have one or a rubber mallet will do.

Take the other D ring and 6x1cm strip of leather, pull through and glue together as before. Take the 12 x 14cm piece of leather and apply a strip of masking tape across the top edge (landscape) 2cm from the edge and stick to the mat.

Using a sharp scalpel and ruler, cut strips downwards from the tape about 5mm wide (or wider if you like) all the way along to create a fringed effect. Now roll the top edge around the tab, like you are making a Swiss roll and mark where the leather finishes. Unroll and scratch the left part of the line along the top edge and both sides of the tab and apply glue to both areas as well as all the way along the back of the top edge.

Leave to go tacky then roll the tab in the top of the tassel as tightly as possible. Clip the top with a bulldog clip and leave to dry for a few minutes. To join the tassel to the zip pull, open the D ring with two pairs of pliers, thread through and close up again. Alternatively, use a small split ring, this will be less fiddly to attach and can be removed more easily.

Finally...admire and enjoy your beautiful new bag!

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