My older daughter loves mermaids, fairies and anything Harry Potter. For her birthday this year she wanted a mermaid theme. In the past I had made mermaid outfits from a pattern but really didn’t want to bother with a pattern I didn’t love for eight little girls. So, using one of my daughter’s mermaid dolls as a template I came up with a mermaid skirt that was easy to sew. What I didn’t get a picture of was my mom, dad and daughter sitting at our kitchen table the night before her party stuffing the mermaid tails. My poor dad – he thought he would get lobster tails while visiting New England. He had no idea mermaid tails were all we were serving!
TIPS, TRICKS, & EMBELLISHMENTS
TIPS, TRICKS, & EMBELLISHMENTS
Fabric: If for some reason you purchase fabric that is only printed on one side all is not lost. Instead of making the sparkly fabric the outside just make it the inside. I did it and it looked fine.
Length: By making the skirt ankle length the tail will drag on the floor behind the mermaid. Be forewarned – if another child, adult or large pet steps on the tail the stuffed tail may separate. My kids prefer the tail to be long and trail behind them. If you don’t want it trailing behind them make your skirt shorter.
If your mermaid has sensitive skin you may want to sew a ribbon around the waist where the sparkle material is folded inside for the waistband.
Feeling ultra crafty? Feel free to glue or sew on other accents – seashells, seaweed, flotsam, jetsam, etc.
Sew Mama Sew is having a tutorial contest. I am inspired practically daily by this blog. I thought why not throw my hat in the ring with this and hopefully return the favor and inspire someone else.
Without further ado, here is a tutorial of how to sew a mermaid skirt.
Have fun!
*******Working Tutorial Link added on Tuesday, July 24th - - Have fun! **********
3 comments:
Great tutorial. Your mermaid skirt is cute! I made a similar one for my daughter last year. Since we have lots of different sized kids over to play I made the height adjustable by sewing two casings down each side of the skirt. Then I put string type elastic up one of the casings then down the other casing. I added an adjustable toggle(the thing you see in coats to adjust the strings on the hood or waist - sorry I don't the know actual name or term for them.) Then you can pull the strings and adjust the toggle to gather the sides and make it shorter or longer depending on the child. It works really well.
Love it!!!
My daughter is really into mermaids and she has one mermaid costume that is in tatters. I have tried to repair it but to no avail. This is perfect!!!! I am going to go out tomorrow and buy the fabric so I can surprise her with it!
I just wanted to thank you for your tutorial----it was so perfect for an Under the Sea party I planned for my 4-year-old daughter. They did relay races with them (I made two) and everyone loved them. (If you're interested, you can see them http://somethingsclever.blogspot.com/2008/06/under-sea.html)
They were super easy and fun to make.
So thank you thank you!
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