Handmade Couture: Make this look - Givenchy Envelope Clutch

Are you or someone you love a designer handbag enthusiast? Do you sometimes find yourself staring at bags you see in magazines, or even on someone's shoulder in the grocery store wondering how to recreate that bag? Then the Handmade Couture series is for you. We pick a designer bag and tell you how to recreate it using available sewing patterns, materials and hardware.  You can have the same look, but make it totally "you" and for a fraction of the cost. When you sew your own bag you know exactly what is going into the bag and can add or modify features to suit your preferences. Today, we are going to show you how to recreate this Givenchy Antigona Leather Envelope Clutch.

The Givenchy Antigona Leather Envelope Clutch Bag is a socialite's staple. It has withstood many seasons and many trends and can be found is a large variety of colors. New colors are released seasonally and discontinued quickly, like many of the high end designers do to keep their lineups fresh. How about this discontinued Tiffany Blue one?  If you search hard enough you can scoop up one in your favorite color. 

The Givenchy Antigona measures 8" H x 11.5" W x 1" D. It has a magnetic snap closure and an internal slip pocket under the flap. It's made with high end grained goatskin leather exterior and a canvas lining. This beauty could be yours for 1395 USD. 

Like the look of The Givenchy Antigona?  Lets be our own brand.

Pattern + Hardware + Fabric= Handmade Couture

Pattern:

Emmaline Bag's Quarter Note Clutch is the perfect doppleganger for the Antigona.  

The Quarter Note Clutch is a very fast pattern to sew up, and is easy to make in a variety of different materials. The large flip lock makes a bold statement and the over all look of the pattern is every bit as elegant as our inspiration bag. 

At 10.5" W x 5.5" H  it is a very similar size to our inspiration bag. If you wanted a slightly larger bag, you could always enlarge the pattern to 110%. You can do this on your home printer with 8" x 17" paper or you can just take the pattern pieces to your local copy shop and have them do it for you. 

Hardware: 

This pattern calls for a large flip lock, but really any lock would do. The Large Bar Lock would work well to recreate our inspiration bag:

As would the Snappy Edge Clasp, especially in gunmetal if you chose a dark leather:

Or even the Oval Flip Lock, which is available in all 5 finishes: 

Fabric:

If you wanted to recreate our inspiration bag, you can find a similar leather like this from the Tannery NYC:

Or, choose your favorite color leather, I love this turquoise from the Tannery:

If leather isn't something that you aren't comfortable using, you can find a faux leather that would work well for the same look of our inspiration bag, like this faux leather available here.

Another great option is natural cork fabric, which is available from MM Cork Supply in Canada or from Sew Sweetness in the US.  You can get cork in a various colors and finishes, like this black:

You can choose to do this in whatever fabric you are comfortable working with! A fun cotton print, canvas or even denim!  That's the benefit of creating your own, it's what YOU want it to be. Handmade can be couture too!

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Photos and content provided and written for Emmaline Bags by Cyndi Farfsing, from The Nosy Pepper. Cyndi's blog is chock is full of more bag photos and make making tips. Check out her bag series "It's in the Bag! Better Bag Making Series," to learn a ton of new bag making skills.

Share your projects made from Emmaline patterns and/or with Emmaline hardware in our facebook group Emmaline Sewing Patterns Group, or on instagram with the hashtags #emmalinehardware, #emmalinepatterns, #emmalinebags, or tag us @emmalinebags.