How To Make A Mermaid Inspired Clutch Purse With Fabric Glue

We all have those days where we would like to turn into a mermaid so all the stress and worry will melt away as we bask in the glory of our shimmery tail and sea salt hair. We found a way to put that dream right in the palm of your hands with a glittery mermaid clutch.

Things you need:

- 3- 6 colored glitter fabric sheets

- X-acto knife

- Scissors

- Surebonder Fabric Stiks

- Surebonder Dual Temp Glue Gun

- All purpose Craft  material (found at your local craft store)

- Mini ceramic flower pot (optional)

This clutch project is a little involved but worth it! Grab your glitter fabric sheets and flip them over. We used a mini ceramic flower pot to help us cut circles, but you can use anything else around the house that has a similar shape. We set the flower pot upside down on the fabric, then with our x-acto knife cut along the edge. It may take a few times to get it completely cut, but if your knife is sharp enough, you most likely will only need to go around it once. Be sure to keep any left over, as we will use it to the strengthen the top of the flap towards the end.

Repeat this step on all three of your glitter fabric sheets until you have a pile of glitter circles. Once the circles are done, cut them in half to create your mermaid scales.

Now take your all purpose craft material and create the type of fold you want in your clutch. We are creating more of a mini clutch so we cut the sheet to give us the shape we wanted. Note that the all purpose craft material is delicate and the tip of your glue gun will be able to go through it- even with a low temperature glue gun. Take your fabric glue and with the fabric glue only touching the material, glue both sides to create the pouch of your clutch.

 At this point take some   time  to decide what type   of  pattern you want your   scales to be in and how   many you can fit going up   and across. We will be   overlapping them and   there is no perfect order to   this. Remember all   mermaids are unique with different scale patterns!

When you are set with your pattern, take your fabric glue stik and glue the straight part of the scale to the bag, leaving the rest of the half circle scale clear of glue. This will allow us to overlap them and arrange as needed. It also gives a fun 3D effect on the finished product. We started on the left side and moved right.

At this point we will leave the top of the clutch and focus on the pouch. Glue your scales up the first row moving up. Keep in mind, if you make a mistake you can always cover it up with another scale.

When you start the second row, be sure to overlap the left corner of the sales under the scales that have already been glued. This will give you the “fish scale” look.

Repeat the process to finish the front, then flip it over to glue scales on the back. A suggestion on the back is to match-up the scales as best as you can with the ones on the front. This will give a seamless look and a unique edge to your bag.

The top of the clutch is where it will get tricky. We want to have the scales appear as fluid as they can but also have the flap tight enough where it closes and won’t easily open. Start at the bottom of the flap and line them up with the scales underneath and glue each row moving up, so the flap is covered with scales.

At this point you will have a space between the back of the clutch and the flap. It  does not need to be even as we will be strengthening that part and covering it. This is where the leftover glitter fabric comes in. Take a strip a little over the width of the gap and cut it out. Use your fabric glue to adhere it in and start to work a fold in it. It will be difficult to bend on the fold, but with layers- it will help keep your clutch closed.

Next, cut a larger piece out as your main piece to fold over the front of the flap.  Glue that piece down and continue to work on the fold. When the glue dries the fold should be pretty solid. To clean up the front, take the same color you used for the main fold and glue scales, keeping a straight line across the top of the fold. You will find that the scales will stick up a bit so to remedy that, completely hot glue any scales popping up down to the ones below it. We found we only had to glue two layers, but at this point, you can glue as many as you see fit.

There you have it! We hope you had a swimmingly good time making this mermaid inspired clutch as much as we did! Check back with us as we have more glue gun crafts ideas coming soon!

Tips:

• Use your x-acto knife to help reach places that are hard to glue
• Use your x-acto knife to slowly cut away any small pieces of glue that are showing
• Trim your scales with your scissors
• Your clutch will be able to hold some money, lipstick and a few small items only
• Remember that the goal is not to craft this perfectly! We want this clutch to inspire you to bring out your inner mermaid. Every mermaid is unique, every scale pattern is unique- make this project your own.