Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links.  And while I did get the pattern for free, all the opinions are completely my own.

Happy Holidays everyone!  Today I wanted to make it a mission to blog Azriella's birthday dress before the year's end, so here we go!

Are you all familiar with the Secret of Kells?  It's Irish animation illustrated by Tomme Moore and it's truly beautiful.  The character and scenery drawings are so vivid yet sooth your imagination as the scenes seem to look like a story in motion.  The textures, the character arcs, the story lines are all so captivating and absolutely inspiring.  The most recent film released was called Song of the Sea and is about a little boy and girl and the struggles they go through as they are come to grips with living without a mother, sibling animosity and the realization of Saoirse's very special power of turning into a magical seal, a selkie, when she dons her mothers cape.

Azriella was mesmerized... enchanted, even.  I found a local fabric store that sells tons of variations of organza, so I sought out duo-toned hues that reminded me of the ocean images from the film.

 Mirror pearlized organza for the cape, blues for the water and night sky, golds and dusty rose as a nod to a setting sun, and seafoam and white, emulating the crash and foam of the waves.

I chose to hand sew iridescent beads throughout the dress because, in the film, there are always these little white balls of light which I think is so dreamlike.  I added blue beads in the drape of the back; like the reflection of the water glistening in the midnight sky.

Gradient color schemes were key.   

The hems and seams are all narrow rolled and I chose to join them from the wrong sides facing out, giving undulating frills and realism to the waves of the silky fabrics.

 My darling girl insisted on a long train for the skirt of the dress which makes this a cumbersome dress to wear out anywhere.  But she looks like a dream when she wears it.

I mashed up and totally redrafted and frankensteined the Figgy's Ethereal and Scirocco dress patterns (affiliate link).  The cape is a mini version of the Juliette Cape pattern by See Kate Sew (affiliate link).

I decided no selkie pod would be complete without a couple of seal plushies so I whipped up a couple of those for her too!  She absolutely loves them.

We went out the the Columbia River at what was the most insane low tide I'd ever seen.... we were able to walk out to the middle of the river!!!!!

It was exhilarating and scary all at the same time.  I kept expecting the tide to just rush back out, chasing us back towards the river's edge.  Luckily, nothing like that happened that day! It was the most surreal photoshoot I'd ever had!

Well that's a wrap on Azy's Birthday Dress!  A month long sewing adventure with a multitude of highs and lows... it was a saga in and of itself.  I can't wait to imagine what the next year will bring!  Happy New Years to you all from us at Sew Chibi!!!

hugs + stitches + many many smooches,

kat

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