I'm doing some pattern testing for the lovely Chris W at the moment. She clearly states that this pattern is "advanced".
I'm pretty gutsy when it comes to trying new stuff (as long as it doesn't involve a high risk of breaking bones). I'll eat just about anything, I'll attempt just about anything, I'll try to make just about anything with or without a pattern.
This bag, however, has me very. very. very frustrated. Mostly it's about the small details. Firstly, it's small pieces (this measures about 6cm at the base and just over 3cm at the top, so this macro pic is quite a bit larger than life).

You can see that I'm struggling to get around the corners, and to stitch evenly. I have a fair suspicion about what I'm doing wrong: I'm probably going too fast despite the fact that my machine is set as slow as it will go and I'm handwheeling a lot of this. I also suspect that I should be using a different foot, and that I might be stitching too close to the metal ring at the top of the tab (which you can't actually see in the photo).
I unpicked it and did it again, and unpicked it again and did it again and did it another time just for good measure. At this point I decided to take a break. If I hadn't promised Chris I'd do this, I probably would have abandoned the project in disgust at my own inability to get it right.
The plan is that I'm going to unpick it one more time today and give it one final shot. Yeah, with the rivets in it. *sigh*. This could all end in tears, but hey. It's a rainy day in Canberra and I have both Baileys and sweet tawny port at the ready. If it all goes to shit, I'm making bat nappies instead. LOL.

My other frustration is the rivets. The picture above is what they look like once I've put them in, following the instructions to the letter (this was the second attempt, as I was certain I'd done something wrong the first time). You can see the rivets are quite dented, not smooth and round at all. I've put the instructions below just in case someone who sees this has some hint or guidance to add. I got this little pink pack of rivets from the local sewing store. I'm really not impressed.

Below are the smaller sized rivets I got from a supplier in China. As you can see, the set comes with a set of special installing tools. I would have loved to use these but they're actually too small for the bag, hence buying the shop ones.
I love tools and special gadgets. I have a few different grommet and rivet tools now, and am slowly building my collection of goodies. I'm not sure why - it's not like I'm going into the bag making business. But I guess the thing is this: I spent hours, and I mean literally HOURS cutting those pieces for that handbag. I've already spent hours sewing them together and anticipate quite a few more hours this weekend continuing to do the same. So I think that it's worth giving it one more shot when I'm not all frustrated and riled up, and see how it goes. I have spent a couple of hours just on this bit alone, but it's a very visible feature on the bag, and I ambitiously (and perhaps foolishly) chose bright contrasting thread. I never was one to do things as a practice run. Life doesn't generally give you practice runs: jump in the deep end! ;)

Anyways, that's the plan.
I doubt I'll even set foot outside my lovely little home today, so I'm going to assume that Buy Nothing Day 6 is also gonna be a success. Woohoo! This is VERY good for my credit card. I'm also wondering if renewing my old WoW subscription counts... I'm going to say no. But I'm also going to wait until tonight to do it. If I roll a panda now, there'll be no handbags *or* bat nappies today. ;)
Buy Nothing New Day 6: Success!
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