Japanese Scrap Bag Challenge.

A few weeks ago, Sarah over at Pings and Needles posted a challenge.
A Japanese Scrap Bag challenge.
The winner gets a year's subscription to The Eternal Maker's Japanese charm club.
Being a fabric whore *cough* and free associating what I could possible make with a scrap bag, I typed in "a corset belt for bellydance" and added trimming a bra if there were left overs.

Um...nevermind that I don't usually sew my own costumery. I've made one circle skirt. It was very very heavy. I think I measure the waist incorrectly and had to keep adding panels.
I've also never applied a grommet before.

I did have a pattern that I'd bought long long ago.
Tempest's corset belt.
I lusted after her originals for a long time, but I settled on a pattern instead of being a big spender.

The pattern was really designed for someone with a Serger. I do not have a Serger.

BUT I WAS UNDAUNTED.
I tried a prototype. It's brocade. Which is really really slippery.
I didn't finish it after I realized it would mean doing 80 instead of 40 grommets.

I agonized over the placement of each scrap.
I grommeted until my fingers bled. Literally. I had to pull a few of them off and cut up my fingertips.

(As an aside, I found the grommet kit that used a hammer and a metal plate to be the easiest. The hand/plier thingie didn't have great results for me.)

How To Grommet:
Gather the following supplies:


Take the pointy awl and jam it through a premeasured spot:

How far you jam it through the piece might depend on your grommet size. For mine, I pushed it all the way in.

Remove the awl pointy bits and push in the grommet:

You may need to grab the scissors and trim the hole a bit.
Make sure you push the grommet through the hole as cleanly as possible...it will make lining things up easier at the hammering stage.

Line the grommet up into the base of the grommet maker:


Take the top of the grommet maker and line it all up:


Then grab this:

Tap on the grommet maker about 4 times. NOTE: IF IT SHIFTS, STOP. YOU DO NOT WANT AN OFF-KILTER GROMMET. Removing it with sucketh.

Ta-Da!!!! (It's not quite perfect because brocade is really hard to grommet, but you get the idea:



Anyway.....I'm sure y'all really want to see my final project....so....

Here's the finished product:


It's getting worn in a show in Dec. I still haven't picked out my music.

...And, because I promised the other ladies I'd model.....
Here I am:



I'll put up the link when voting goes live over at Pings and Needles. In the meantime, if you want to check out the work of the other fabulous contestants, you can see them here. I'd love to win, but, truth be told, I've had a blast regardless, met some rad women, and learned a lot!