it took a night and a morning's work...
and snowflake sponsored the swarovski crystals...
my hand stitching is not fabulous...
but it should do it's job holding my kitchen sink and all on the day
the gestation of the wedding clutch was a slow one... i started this at least 2 months ago...
with the inspiration came from the folded silk layers on the wedding dress bodice (and limited width of the off cut dupion silk), i decided to replicate the folded pattern for the face of the clutch...
there was much ironing and folding... careful not to get any steam / water marks on the silk...
the layers were stacked on top of each other and secured initially with fabric glue... then later... stitching on the sides
there was quite alot of planning... photocopies of architectural drawings of the clutch from all angles and facades
the delicate layered silk facing was then sewn on a piece of non woven craft sheet (brought from riot) - these were handy to give the bag shape, and to hold its shape once mobiles, lipstick, tissues were jammed in the clutch...
for extra strength, i also made an inner lining with plastic crossstitch canvas (also from riot)
see the plastic canvas inner support...
the handle was tricky... i needed the bag to be super strong, able to hold heavy things... the handle was a loop of boning, sewed onto the innter canvas support, disguised by a draping of dupion silk...
that's why the handle looks abit stiff (and it is)... but it is super super strong...
the final touch was the swarovski crystals scatter... to add abit of sparkle...
so at the end... pretty good result and good match (for the big big dress)... but i guess i'll end up carrying this on the day as i will be the maid (of honour)...
the freebie awe inspiring view of the sea (and the crowd)
the the freebie lipton teas... (no these giant lipton teas were not official installations / sculptures... but they were most welcomed by us! see mcduck racing to the tea stand...)
... and the mesmerising flowing movements of the golden wings...
when i saw this... i thought of my poor plants (in the not too distant future)... please don't dry out...
the sculptor of these interconnecting giant swirls was japanese and we got to meet him and he said he took 1/2 year of drilling and chiseling b4 the master piece was brought to fruitation in japan...
and i went past the iceberg - $5 entry for a swim... i must try a 50 here one day! just look so cool...
proper dinner setting with floral arrangement and all...
nicely presented menu...
our dindin was 4 course - appetizers, entree, main and dessert - devised by one of the second year catering student in-charge...
the name of the game was to get here early... so to order asap - as portions of each dish were set and the orders were filed in first come first serve basis...
the appetizer was alternate menu - no choice... the bruschetta got a good crunch and v garlicy...
the prosciutto and melon was abit bland though...
viet duck salad - they got the vietnamese fish sauce right!
the octopus with balsamic sauce was ok (again... i think i had the inferior dish out of us two)
by the time the main came... we were quite bloated with the homemade bread and butter (the nice waitor just kept on giving us more and more rolls)... lamb shanks - another winner...
my choice sirloin steak with parsnip crisps... v nice, but mcduck ended up eating most of it as i then recalled (after eating several mouthfuls) red meat was not my thing...
desserts! artistically layered onto the oversize plates... panna cotta - vv nice but the consistency was vv jelly (they must have went overboard on the gelatine) but mcduck was not complaining...
and 4 out of 4 - i managed to pick the lesser of the two agian - my chocolate tart with a heavy snowing of cocao powder - mcduck wanted to scoop it up to add to his coffee to make mocha! it was quite nice anyway... we polished everything off and walked away having to pay $27 each + $2.50 each for a lemon lime bitters... that's $54 (had to be paid in advance) + $5 (paid after dinner with credit card or eftpos only) for a 4 course meal with drinks at good restaurant standard... bargain!
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