Short Sleeve Jacket & Matching Clutch

This is the first item I made using the beautiful Chinese brocade fabric my Other Half brought me back from Hong Kong.  I didn't have a pattern for it, I used a blouse that fitted nicely and just made it with short sleeves instead.  The fabric feels really luxurious and it looks very glamorous.  I bought some self covering buttons to go with it as it needed something to fasten the top together.  I just put one button on the top and made a loopy buttonhole to close it.

This next photo shows the button and top of the jacket a bit better as it was hard to photograph as the fabric is so shiny, the light was reflecting on it.

I had some fabric left over so I made a little clutch bag to go with it.  I cut out a rectangle of the fabric then cut out another the same size in some lining fabric.  Then I cut out a slightly smaller rectangle of a very thin foam (it was originally one of those rolls you lay on the floor under your sleeping bag and it was from the 99p shop).  I glued this to the reverse side of the outer fabric leaving a small gap around the outside.  I didn't stick it right down, just around the edges of the top bit.  Then I divided the rectangle into three and hand sewed the lining to the outer fabric putting right sides together and sewing close to the foam.  Once it was done I turned this bit through and it made the flap for the front.  I attached the half of the magnetic fastener now to the flap.

Next I folded the outer fabric up from the bottom right sides together to make the bag bit and sewed the two side seams.  I did the same for the lining then turned the outer bit through and made sure the foam was going to fit nicely.  I had to trim it a bit to get it to fit in between the outer and lining fabric.  Next I had to attach the other half of the magnetic fastener to the front of the bag.  Then I just turned all the edges in around the top of the bag and sewed the lining into the bag.  All that was left to do was to attach the covered button to the front of the flap to match the jacket.