Sea layers muslin dress

Hello! My name is Elena and I became passionate about sewing and embroidery about 3 years ago, when i was pregnant with my now 2yo daughter, Victoria.
I created this project for her, with her in mind, and it represents the sea, because one of the names i really liked for her was “Mar”, Sea in English. The Sea has depth, layers, is home to an incredible amount of creatures, is calm and structured, powerful and respected, even feared. Just how i want her to be in life.

The project developed as i worked, changing and getting more and more complex. You will notice that there will be sketches of shells, sea stars, or other creatures that will never appear in the final project, and at the same time there will be others added.

Here is a list of the materials I used:
- White muslin dress
- Lightweight thermo backing
- Different colours embroidery floss
- Metallic embroidery thread
- Embroidery hoop
- Needles, scissors
- Tablet, images of sea creatures to trace onto the fabric
- Thermo erasable pen
- Filling for the jellyfish
- Orange cotton crochet yarn (for the orange anemonae)
- Sequins (different sizes, shapes)
- Beads shaped as turtles, starfish, pearl
- Fabric acrylic paint - matte and glittery for the sand
- hoop stand (very useful )

I usually purchase in bulk or have stored materials that I go to when I need, so there really isn’t something very specific

It all started with a white muslin dress that needed some embellishments. And because i never embroidered by hand on muslin, I tested on a separate piece of muslin by embroidering a shell. I was afraid that too much thread would weigh down the fabric and make it sag. It does not, embroidery thread is quite lightweight.

Because Victoria is a toddler and loves to feel textures, I wanted the dress to be as colourful and sensory as possible.
For the jellyfish gills and central tentacles, I used the cast on stitch: https://youtu.be/4uLN0binD5k?si=LPtofeMdgHqopzla
For the rest of the tentacles, i used several types of stitches like the split stitch, back stitch and the couching stitch. It all depends on what texture you want to achieve, embroidery is very permissive in this way.

After finishing the jellyfish, the dress was just too white to add other elements. So I took my chance and used paint (my first time doing so).
I used a lot of water to dilute the colours and also added a little bit of glitter for the beach layer. The fabric paint usually has specific instructions on how to use it, is best to read the label.

For the detached blanket stitch, I have a tutorial here: https://youtu.be/k4XMFVn2rpw?si=uoq0flKeK4_G-veP

For the corals I used the rose stitch, with a french knot in the center, and the fishbone stitch for algae. I added some running stitches and cast on stitches as well.

For this fluffy starfish, I covered the 5 thicker needles with different shades of blue and one purple, and then used the unpicking tool to cut into the threads. I also used glue on the back, so it will not be easy to remove the pieces of thread.

For the final touches, I added a pom-pom anemone, sea foam, 3 baby turtles, a shell, and some sequins. I wanted it to have a shine because the sea reflects the light, and some areas become very bright.
I hope you like my project and good luck to everyone !