When I was a little girl, I spent hours dreaming I was a mermaid. Every time I got near a pool or pond, I practiced swimming like one, and Splash was by far my favorite movie.
So imagine how lucky I thought my niece was when my sister-in-law sewed up a dozen mermaid tails for her birthday party this year! Now, Selena is as close to Superwoman as anyone I know (she’s a design professor at the University of New South Wales, runs Griffin Kiteboarding with her husband, and has two amazing–and amazingly active–kids), so I wasn’t surprised. I was surprised when she showed me how easy it was to make up a pattern and sew the tail (although making a dozen is a different story). It’s easy to customize if your little boy doesn’t want to be a merman, or your little girl prefers dinosaurs, and would make the perfect last-minute Halloween costume. It uses fabric remnants, and even I was able to sew one up in about an hour. Here’s how.
We started out with a simple concept drawing, and worked out the measurements on paper. Selena also sketched out an idea for a dinosaur tail. We headed over to Britex Fabrics in Union Square (well worth a visit if you’re in San Francisco) and dug through the remnants bins to find some lovely shimmery moire and sparkly taffeta to make the mermaid tails, and found some great lizard print velveteen for the dinosaur tail. A trip to the notions floor for batting and velcro, and were were done!
Using the measurements we’d come up with, Selena drew up the pattern pieces on newspaper (“the most efficient use of the Sports section is for making patterns,” says she), and we cut them out. You will need two fins in two fabrics, two tails in two fabrics, one ruffle strip and one waistband strip (which should both contrast with the main tail fabric).
Make sure to make use of folds in fabric so you don’t have to cut as often! (It’s easiest to make your large pattern pieces as half of a mirror image.) Here are the front and back, waistband, ruffle strip, and batting.
To make the ruffle for the front, sew straight down the ruffle strip, and then pull on one of the end threads until it bunches up. Then sew down the middle of your front tail piece.
Using fabric #2, line up the bottom of the tail piece with the top of the fin piece. Sew them together with right sides facing so they make one continuous piece.
Now place the right sides facing of the front and back of the tail, and place the batting piece underneath. Pin well and give yourself a generous seam allowance as mermaid fabric can be slippery!
Stitch all the way around the tail except for the waist.
Now turn the tail right side out, so that the batting is inside and the fabric is on the outside. A chopstick can help make the fins have their proper pointinesss!
Now center the waistband fabric over the front of the mermaid tail and pin, right sides facing. Sew together for the length of the waist (not the entire waistband), and then fold the fabric back so that it’s the right way up. Then fold it back in half so that the waistband has its right sides facing and stitch around the outside (not across the waist, however).
Turn inside out and pin to the back of the tail (with the one unsewn piece at the back turned under) and stitch around the edges of the waistband.
Add the pieces of velcro on opposite sides of the waistband so they lock together when the two waistband pieces wrap on top of each other.
You’re done!
This tail concept can easily be changed to make any kind of tail. Here’s a dinosaur tail Selena whipped up in about 15 minutes (I guess practice makes perfect after all!).
19 thoughts on “Easy Mermaid Tail Costume”
Comments are closed.
ADVERTISEMENT
Join Make: Community Today
Your idea is so much simpler than the one I struggled with for my granddaughter! Two more things that might add to the fun are: 1) a little loop-type handle at the end of the tail (an idea I borrowed/stole from a commercial pattern), just in case it’s worn outside in messy weather and 2) “bubbles” (another borrowed idea)–Buy a package of clear ponytail beads, the kind with two clear beads on a rubber band. Cut the “bubbles” free and sew them to a headband, the tail, etc.
I just made a mermaid tail using your directions… thanks so much, it looks great! I bought a hot glue gun today so have gone a little nuts with embellishment. I shall post a pic on my blog littletweetheart dot com. Somehow I think I’ll be making a few more :)
Oh, I added some stuffing to the tail fins.
Thanks! I used your method but, added a little of my own touch to it =)
testme
[…]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a handful of unrelated information, nonetheless truly really worth taking a search, whoa did one particular discover about Mid East has got a lot more problerms as well […]
chili
[…]always a huge fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don?t get a lot of link love from[…]
does crazy 88 really work
[…]Here is a good Weblog You may Find Fascinating that we Encourage You[…]
turbo neons
[…]although internet websites we backlink to below are considerably not associated to ours, we really feel they’re actually really worth a go through, so have a look[…]
Affiliate
[…]please check out the web-sites we adhere to, which includes this one particular, because it represents our picks through the web[…]
sustanon
[…]although internet sites we backlink to below are considerably not connected to ours, we really feel they are in fact worth a go through, so possess a look[…]
Professional ghostwriter
[…]Here is a superb Blog You might Come across Intriguing that we Encourage You[…]
virtual assistant needed
[…]very handful of web sites that happen to be in depth below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well really worth checking out[…]
Skin treatment
[…]very handful of sites that transpire to become detailed beneath, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[…]
connect
[…]here are some links to web sites that we link to for the reason that we consider they’re worth visiting[…]
Yak
[…]just beneath, are many completely not connected websites to ours, even so, they are certainly worth going over[…]
Motorcycle accident lawyer in San Diego
[…]always a significant fan of linking to bloggers that I really like but do not get lots of link really like from[…]
TYTSEO
[…]we came across a cool web-site which you could take pleasure in. Take a search in the event you want[…]
GoPro Sound
[…]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you are new to this site[…]
here
[…]check below, are some totally unrelated sites to ours, however, they may be most trustworthy sources that we use[…]
beach condos for sale in cabarete
[…]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a handful of unrelated data, nevertheless seriously really worth taking a search, whoa did one particular study about Mid East has got additional problerms also […]