Tonight's the Night!

The annual Smithson Gala is this evening, starting at 7:00 p.m., at the National Air & Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, DC. This is the tenth year we've been going to these events... How time flies!!

Everything is ready to go: My skirt, shell and jacket; Bob's matching vest and tie; and a clutch purse for me. I won't be posting pictures of the outfits until tomorrow morning, but I did want to share the clutch purse.

I had wanted to make a matching purse for this outfit, but realized that I had made this decision too late in the process or order the necessary parts (and yes, I tried to find them locally -- even G Street Fabrics no longer has its extensive selection). So I took one of my mother's favorite clutch purses and did a little creative tweaking.

It's actually pretty difficult to photograph the fabric; it's quite dark. The monogram is from the Zundt Embroidery Baroque Alphabet and is stitched in a thread color just barely lighter than the background fabric. I then used Sulky's KK2000 temporary adhesive spray to hold the fabric to the clutch, and hand-stitched the edges down.

The original clutch color is slightly more purple than the new fabric cover, but, frankly, no one is going to notice or care.

So, I'm off to do my nails and try not to worry about the fact that it's raining and cold outside. I'm determined to enjoy myself this evening, and will report back tomorrow with pictures!