3D Printed Monstera Leaf Clutch

This 3D printed clutch with a built in design is made entirely in Tinkercad. All you need is an SVG file of your chosen image. I opted for monstera leaves as I'll need this clutch for a botanical themed event, but any design will work as long as every line of the image touches the sides of the clutch. It might take some experimentation and adjustments, but there are endless possibilities. If you don't have any original ideas you can Google geometrical, botanical, abstract vectors or SVG files for laser cutting and find something you like. 

Supplies

You will need:

Filament in your chosen colour 

Paints and varnish if you want to paint it different colour 

A4 sheet of felt 

Small piece of thin fabric

Clear drying glue like E6000

Two small magnets 

2x D rings

2x small hinges

Long chain for the bag

Step 1: Design

Find or make your design.

Modify it to your needs, in my case I overlapped two monstera leaves and filled large gaps around them, to make sure all parts of the leaves stay in contact with the clutch.

Step 2:

Start by designing the shape of your clutch. I opted for a rectangle with curved edges. Scale the clutch to your liking and slice it exactly in half. Duplicate it and set the second clutch to the side for later. 

Step 3:

Drag a large rectangle onto the workspace and align it in the middle lengthwise and width wise with the half-clutch. Move the clutch into the rectangle until only 0.1mm of it sticks out and group or together. Cut the half clutch object into a large rectangle. 

Import your SVG file, modify it to your liking and enlarge it so it's slightly bigger than the clutch. Align it with the big rectangle turned hollow and group together. 

Your SVG design is now turned into a clutch shaped object. 

Step 4:

Duplicate the original half-clutch and remove about 2/3 of the front section. Align the remaining frame with the SVG design and group together. This way the design is in contact with the frame of the clutch and there are no loose pieces.

Go back to your original half clutch model, duplicate it and drag it onto the work plane. Scale it down by 4-5mm on each side. Align it with the SVG half-clutch and hollow it out.

Step 5:

Later on I realised that the walls won't be thick enough to attach hinges, so I made a thicker frame and attached it to the clutch. That way you will have space for the hardware and a small lip underneath to hide the fabric edges. 

Step 6:

Last step is adding cuts for hinges, magnets and D rings.

I also cut curved slits along the bottom parts. I'm an awful seamstress and have no idea how to sew a lining of a bag, so I'm going to pull fabric strips through the slits and secure them behind the lip. That way, when you open your bag nothing will spill out. 

Step 7:

Print with supports.

Step 8: Cleaning

I removed the supports with pliers and then used Dremel to smooth the inside of the clutch as much as possible.

I spray painted the outside with a sandable primer and polished it smooth.

Since the inside of the clutch will be lined with felt, you don't have to be too focused on making the inside perfect. Clean it as much as you can, just make sure there are no rough or pointy edges.

Step 9: Painting

I mixed a batch of greenish-blue acrylic paint and painted the outside of the clutch as well as the frame on the inside. There is no need to paint anything else as it will be covered by felt.

All those small holes have to be painted carefully so there is no excess paint gathering in there. Use a small, dry brush to wipe any excess after each paint layer is applied. Finish it off with varnish. 

Step 10: Lining the Clutch

Place one half of the clutch on top of felt and trace the outline. Cut it out and fit it inside. If any fabric spills out, trim it. All edges should be hidden behind the frame. 

Line each clutch part with felt using e6000 glue. Be careful with the part with the monstera design, don't let the glue spill over to the other side. Let it dry. 

Step 11: Hardware

Attach the hinges and D rings with small screws and glue the magnets. 

Step 12:

Cut two stripes of fabric of the same width. Feed the fabric strips through the slits and mark how wide you want the clutch to open. Shorten the strips and feed them through the slits again, secure with glue underneath the frame. 

I added a small plastic frog to the top of the clutch, secured with a screw. 

Now attach the chain and you are done.