Mistakes Were Made… And That's OK

I've been working on this upcycling project and got all excited about kiss lock purses.  In addition to the groovy name they're fun, girly and have that satisfying SNAP when you close them.  I had great material to work with, between old bag embroidery and my unspeakably large fabric stash, but where to get the hardware?  I STRONGLY DISLIKE cheap hardware.  When I designed my NokHoo bags I went so far as to have all the hardware specially cast from metal because I couldn't source anything but plastic.  (Why, WHY does everyone use plastic??  It breaks!  Pet peeve.)  Moving on… I couldn't find kiss locks at my regular Portland haunts but through frameyourbag on Etsy I ordered a few things to test. Thumbs up on the quality — hooray!

Being too impatient to do a prototype I jumped in with the fun stuff.  I found a shape I liked, made some pattern pieces and worked out the minor complications of engineering the lining, exterior and closure so the seams wouldn't show.  I first glued the bag to the closure, then stitched the frame onto the bag.

Voila!  I like it.  I'm going to sell it on Etsy!  Oh, wait, the details…  Does this happen to you?  You embark on a project, work out the details, spend precious time on it and the results are exciting but, oh, there are those little things that didn't quite work out.  For me it was the fiddly part of the bag that meets with the hardware...

Right there, do you see it?  The fabric pulls and gaps where everything meets, also, that hinge sticks out.  I should've made the top part wider.  This picture doesn't show it but I also should have been more aware of the directionality of this fabric (it's like a grid) because it stretches in a funny way if it's not sewn straight.  Mistakes were made.  I can't sell it but this is my first try.  Lessons were learned.  I shall try again.  The good news…

Check out the gorgeous hardware!