A Dress Just Right For the Pacific Northwest

I really wanted to create a whale dress for this summer and spent a lot of time thinking about different designs, but never really settled on something...until the grandmother of one of our little friends ordered a special custom dress. I met with my little 6-year old client and ended up with an orca whale dress concept. This was absolutely perfect because orcas are frequently spotted off the beach a few minutes away from us here in West Seattle. In fact, a few years ago, I dropped Kate off at preschool and took the dog for a walk along Beach Drive. As we were walking, I absent-mindedly looked offshore toward the water and instantly saw the tall black dorsal fins that are distinctive of orca whales. It was so exciting to see a pod so close to home and I was thrilled to have serendipitously seen such an iconic example of Pacific Northwest wildlife.


So anyway, back to the dress. My client really wanted a blue dress, and I immediately remembered having seen this Michael Miller print at Fabric Crush in Wallingford. It seemed just right for this orca whale dress because it was geometric print that reminded me of sunlight refracting through the water. I then studied images of orca whales, sketched some out, simplified the coloring on the whales a little, and designed the applique for the whale. After some sewing, voila, the dress was complete but it seemed like it needed a little something else. Hmmm. A few years back, I bought some really cute sailboat ribbon ago at Esther's on Bainbridge Island and I thought would look cute with this little marine-inspired dress, so I used it to create a coordinating handbag. So, now here is a Pacific Northwest-inspired ensemble!