Emboidered Guppy Vest

I was several months into the construction when my husband acquired a second-hand fish tank. This was his first chance to raise guppies since his entire school of red guppies died and we moved to our current home. I had said I prefer blue things in general, and thus he chose Moscow Blue guppies to start his new fish community.
I had long been thinking about what we would have for a family coat of arms, and I know it would have to include homage to our guppies. There's also a bilingual backstory to the guppies. The word in English is all wrong for their delicate shape and the silken drape of their fins, like little dancers that can slow down time. In my husband's language they are called peacock fish, which suits them better.
I had planned from the beginning to do embroidery for the natural world part of the project, so instead of doing a floral back panel, I decided embroider fish on the lapels. I made up the wisdom, "you get to know ALL the details of something by either drawing it or cleaning it," when I was cleaning a refrigerator, and I still think it's true. By drawing and then stitching the fish, I learned a lot about them, such as how to recognize young males before their tails grow fully.