Oh my. This months challenge was a challenge!!! From made up time constraints to genuine lack of sleep, I started off with a roar and ended with a whimper. The challenge was to source belts and bags and turn them into something else, anything that we fancied!! And so Tracy and I went to our favorite thrift haunt to get our supplies and well, I lost my mind. I may or may not have purchased SO MUCH STUFF but what can I say? When the store runs a 50% off sale that day, you really need to get while the getting is good so I filled my cart with all the things......knowing full well that whatever I didn't use in the challenge, I'd be able to use for future projects. I think all up, my tally for the loot came in at $25 or so which isn't all bad for things that can be used for countless creations.

Now the most exciting part of this challenge for me was ripping all the bags apart. Strangely I got more bags than belts but everything that I did get, I could see the potential (and I may have nabbed a few bags for keeping intact so I could tote my goodies around) and as much as I wanted to wait until March 1st - I CHEATED! I grabbed pliers, scissors and Went. To. Town!! RIP, TEAR, CLINK AND CLUNK. I honestly was like a rabid dog and would have used my teeth if I had any! HA! But after the carnage ended and my heart rate went down to an acceptable level, I tidied it all away and like the good lamb that I am, didn't touch it again until the start of March.

Given the sheer quantity of what I had, I knew I could at least make one thing and really fancied something along the lines of a cinched belt. Or something like that. I even had two pieces of a bag that I briefly flirted with the idea of making a top. And maybe I'll get that done eventually but the main goal was to have one completed item. After playing around with the supplies, I pulled what I wanted aside and got started. At first, I used a piece of scrap tablecloth to use as my "pattern" and free hand drew the design out which I then used to hack out some croc print faux leather. Then I used the lining torn out from another bag to line the inside of the belt pieces. I used glue. Which was icky. Created an edge with that lining and rolled the edges and hand tacked them into place. And then I set it all into my craft bag and solidly PROCRASTINATED for the rest of the month. Did a bunch of other things, sewed a floor pouf, exercised and painted backdrops...all the way mentally thinking "I'm so busy" but really, was being a slacker of whopping proportions.

Anyway, skip over the next few weeks and I finally park my butt to get this done. Since I'd already mentally pondered what I needed to do, I was ready to get er' done. And my inner destructive scamp was looking forward to this part. Riveting and grommeting. Give the girl a hammer and she shall whack away. I riveted the centerpiece of the belt which was from a clutch, then grommeted the areas where I wanted to have a corseting effect on the sides. A belt supplied the gold coin pieces that are on the bottom, a gold chain and clasp from a purse as well as the fittings adorned the bottom and a little tassel for flair. And from my own stash, some leather necklace cord to lace up the sides. 

And thus it was done. I set it on my smaller form in the dining room and my husband walks in and sees it and says "Oh hey, it's Rocky's belt!" - yeah there is a smart arse born every minute. And now I look at it and don't see "Femme Rock", I see Sylvester Stallone all sweaty and bleeding from the corner of his eye.

Now in summary, do I like it? Yeah I kind of do!! Would I have changed things about it? YES! I'd not have used the glue which seeped through the black lining leaving questionable blotches on the inside of the belt. And I'd have been more detailed with how I attached that lining, maybe even tried to use a sewing machine instead of hand sewing. And when I did the grommets and rivets, I was operating on less than 4 hours of sleep so the placement is a little off here and there. And I'd definitely have used something else for the lacing since the cording is super stiff. But overall, I'm kind of happy with it. I think I enjoy the process of sourcing the supplies and designing more than I do the executing but that's why I'm a photographer by trade and not a seamstress. And I'm perfectly okay playing with ideas and stuffing things up as well as owning up to being a giant procrastinator. Oh and before I forget, when I was thoughtfully planning the placement of the chain, there was a stage where I thought "ohhhhh noooooo, that's going to give off the illusion of gold camel toe" and I imagined Tim Gunn saying as such. LOL. 

Did you know I have a love for Tim Gunn that runs deep? Watching him on Project Runaway was the joy of my life.

So this months challenge is now done and dusted. I'm not sure I'll keep this belt intact since I'm already considering what to use the chain and fittings for but I did learn some valuable things from the challenge and really enjoyed the process when I actually sat down to do it. And next months challenge is going to be quite interesting with lots of room for interpretation so I'm really eager for that!! 

Thanks for reading along here and I hope you enjoy hearing about these challenges.

Until next time!

Sam.