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My cheap China drill bits go blunt immediately if I use them to drill metal, and I can't find any 0.9mm bits in any hardware stores, smallest is always 1.0mm. Anyone have any tips?

Use the 1mm drill bit.

You can get smaller one from hobby specialists. I use some very small ones for drilling out gun barrels. They tend to break against metal, but can be used to make a pilot hole for the larger bits. Unless you have a hobby specialist store in your town, you are unlikely to find such small bits, and you'll have to order them from the internet/catalogs.

I'd just save the headache and buy a hand drill that works with paper clip wire. Army Painter has one for about ten bucks.

I have a drill bit that I use for pinning. You can get galvanized wire in 20ga for dirt cheap from some hardware stores, just like where I got my drill bit.

I use a 1/32" drill bit, which makes a snug fit with the 20 gauge single strand wire.

You might consider the material of the bits you're acquiring, I'd be relatively sure that you can find decent bits in smaller sizes online if you look a little more. Look for titanium or high speed steel, generally those work well for me.

Army Painter also sells a small box of bits w/ some wire for each bit included, something like $6.