This is Chapter 13 of an ongoing series following the journey of a couple throwing an intimate, DIY wedding in Washington, DC. Be sure to check out the earlier chapters from this series for some great DIY tips & inspiration!
I am addicted to “Say Yes to the Dress“. I watch it and have always discovered an irony. These women agonize over tiny details and styles and so many parts of their dresses and FINALLY comit to the perfect gown only to get to the church/venue to completely cover or hide their gorgeous gown with their bouquets tucked gently in front of their belly buttons.
You can not see one detail or sparkle on the dress because of the little bouquet, it detracts.
So I searched and scoured the internet for ideas for alternatives to traditional flower bouquets and I found a lot of inspiration:
There were twigs and sideways bouquets, pomanders, and bouquets made from broaches, paper and buttons, feathers, fabric, shells, rhinestones, felt, wood and even wire!
All of them beautiful, but I am such a practical girl, I wanted something more… that is when I saw this picture….
Perfection!!!
I could use a clutch and have flowers all wrapped into one neat little package by my side (not in front of my dress!).
So I scoured some more to find a purse the right shape, size and color. Dead end.
So then I bought some fabric thinking I would make my own with my brand new sewing machine. Nice try, but not good. So I kept it in the back of my mind and low and behold while shopping at Walmart (of all places) one day, I saw a purse the correct shape with neutral handles.
But … PROBLEM: It was pink with bubblegum polkadots and little frogs all over it. Cute but not exactly matching my cherry blossom theme. Hmmmmm…
Great for a 3 year old, but not so much for my wedding. Then I remembered my fabric and thought, “but wait, I’m a DIY’er, I can do this!!”. So I bought the little purse anyway for only $5!!! What a steal.
Here’s how I made my DIY Cherry Blossom Clutch for my wedding:
I decided to glue a piece of the fabric around the purse to cover the original appalling upholstery with fabric glue. I left the trim and handles exposed because they are a similar color to my headpiece and buttons on my dress and my fiance’s outfit. (But you could easily cut them off and replace them with handles from a craft store or cover them with more fabric).
I ironed my fabric into pleats and sewed it along the edges to stay so it kind of looked like a big cummerbund. I sewed the cummerbund onto the glued piece of fabric. I cut off and tucked in the excess and finished with another stitch at the first seam (all the way around). Then I covered the excess on the bottom with another piece of folded-under fabric sewn into place.
Finally I used some of the lace that was cut from my dress to add some detailing that matched perfectly.
I love it and the best thing is that I can have it to use it forever and many more years to come. An added bonus was that the entire clutch only cost me $7!!
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