My little princess requested a mermaid tail about a year ago. I was scrolling through Facebook and she saw it and begged for weeks. We finally went shopping for the material back then and I was so busy with work that never got around to do it. I have been living with the guilt ever since. Every time I go in the office and saw it there it made me feel bad. Recently there was a pattern test call for a mermaid tail and I wasn't picked but figured out a way to do it. So tonight the inspiration came to me and I did it. There is room for improvement but she loves her pink mermaid tail.
It makes me happy to see her happy.
Now here is my tutorial in case you want to make your little one happy.
First start by tracing your little one's body shape and don't forget to give it a a little extra room to wiggle. I also made the tail shape out of paper and then cut it out of fleece. I had a blanket kit that we got at either Walmart or Joanns for really cheap.
You need two of each piece to have your front and back. Once you cut the fins, with right sides together you need to sew around the fin but leave an opening of about 6 inches to turn it inside out later.
I always pin because fabric shifts around.
Then I just proceeded to sew about an inch away from the edge. Once you are done sewing the fin clip all curves so you get a nice shape.
When you are done just turn it inside out and you should be able to push the corners with a pencil. Then top stitch around the fin and you should have something that looks like the picture below.
For the next step I simply decided to space out about an inch or so in between each row. It doesn't have to be perfect at all, I think it looks pretty good.
Now for the main body of the mermaid tail we place our paper pattern piece on top of the fabric and cut it out. My picture is upside down I know but you get the idea. I didn't cut it the way I had planned, the stretch of the fabric ended up going from top to bottom instead of side to side. It makes it easier for the little ones to get in and out.
You can see in the picture that I cut extra material for seam allowance.
Once we cut the pieces I pin them with right sides together and make sure I sandwich the tail in between the two pieces. This part is a little tricky because of the thickness that I ended up with, it is doable tough and although I chose to sew it with the V shape I recommend sewing a straight line or a little curved because it bunched up a little for me where the tail meets the fin.
Once you sew the entire tail together you are going to want to add a tube to it, it can be as tall or as short as you want it, it helps keep the tail in place and extra coziness (if that's a word). I have to admit that for this tube I did cut it the right way so it stretches the right way for my little one. I simply used the zizag stitch on my machine, the elastic stitch is better to help it be more flexible and avoid the thread from breaking with use.
Just insert the tube with right sides together.
Once you are done sewing it together it should look like this.
And you are done, I didn't finish the top of the tube at all since it's just for playing around the house but you could finish it anyway you want.
A better look of the tail, you can see how much it bunches up at the tail but it's OK. My mistake helps you get a better finish look.
And here she is, super happy with her mermaid tail, not too shabby right?
Now go on and enjoy making one for your little mermaid in your life. You could also make one for boys but instead of a mermaid tail you could do a shark or fish with teeth at the waist to make it look like it ate your kid.
A perfect gift for Christmas if you ask me.
PS, excuse the cellphone pics, I am having to go without Photoshop for now and can't edit my nice pics at all.
