Kay's Sparkly Leopard Print Tail

[KayNS]

Hi all,

So, I've just bought fabric to make myself another tail for practicing in the pool. The chlorine was starting to fade my gorgeous tail from Blaze, so I wanted to make a new 'skin' for over my monofin for practice.

I bought a gorgeous orangey leopard print swimwear fabric that has an orange sparkle to it. It was a bit more expensive than I anticipated, so here's hoping I don't mess up! I also bought some chlorine-resistant elastic for the waistband.

My plan is to trace my tail from Blaze (Crimson Visions) as a pattern. I bought 4 m of fabric (that's around 4 yards for the Americans). I forgot to get a picture of the fabric, but I'll post tonight. If all goes well, I'll have my tail for my next swim on either Thursday or next Monday. :-D

[Mermaid Alea]

Chlorine can definitely be tough on fabric. Have you been soaking your tail in baking soda & warm water after a swim in the pool? The baking soda can help neutralize the harmful effects of chlorine.

Good luck on your new tail!

[Ashe]

Excited to see another great fabric tail! Good luck

[KayNS]

Chlorine can definitely be tough on fabric. Have you been soaking your tail in baking soda & warm water after a swim in the pool? The baking soda can help neutralize the harmful effects of chlorine.

Good luck on your new tail!

Yes, I've soaked it. It's still fading a bit. I don't want to risk any more fading or risk getting it snagged/scraped just using it for practice. I'll save it for times when I need to look fabulous! :-D

[KayNS]

Here's a pic of the fabric:



I've decided to go a bit jungle-ish/cavewoman with this tail. I'm going to cut the end of the fluke in large jagged points.

I also found a perfect black fringed bikini top today for $6 that will go very nicely with it. I'm excited (and a little scared, sewing isn't my strong point!)

[AniaR]

I've learned that lemon juice is one of the best ways to stop chlorine! Put the actual non sticky extract right in your bath!

[KayNS]

Made some progress this evening:

Traced out my Crimson Visions tail with the mono fin placed for reference.


Mark and pin, mark and pin, mark and pin.


I gently tried it on (inside out) at this point to see if it would fit where it was pinned, and it did!

Then I cut it out with a WIIIIIIDE seam allowance. Cutting is the scary part!


Re-marked the sewing line.



I also discovered that I still have enough material to make a whole second tail. Which takes some of the pressure off, because I know that if I totally screw this up I can start all over.

[KayNS]

Next step: Find my black thread and sew it up on my (borrowed) sewing machine using a zigzag stitch.
I left a lot of material at the top, because I was thinking of trying to make a roll-down waist rather than an elastic waist. Any opinions on that? If not, then I'll just make a casing and put in the chlorine-resistant elastic that I bought.
As I think I mentioned before, the fluke isn't going to be a usual "fish-shape", instead I'm going to cut it in large jagged points, cartoon cavewoman style.
I don't think I'm going to add any fins to this one. It's just supposed to be a practice tail.

[AniaR]

Can't wait to see it come along way to go.

[Mermaid Wesley]

I'm glad you're being detailed on how you made this. The more tutorial-esque fabric tail threads, the better!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ashe]

Heheh, I just thought of the cutest thing! Your new tail looks like the background in your avatar, so if you take another photo in that area again, you will camouflage! Like you were meant to be there all along

[KayNS]

Heheh, I just thought of the cutest thing! Your new tail looks like the background in your avatar, so if you take another photo in that area again, you will camouflage! Like you were meant to be there all along

Hahaha Yes! Leopard print = rockweed camouflage!

[KayNS]

I'm glad you're being detailed on how you made this. The more tutorial-esque fabric tail threads, the better!

Thanks, I was feeling a bit silly posting detailed pics of a simple fabric tail creation, but that makes me feel better.

[KayNS]

I ran into sewing issues tonight. My machine would NOT do a proper zigzag stitch for the life of me.
So, I went over to Lulubelle's and she tried on her machine, and had the same problem! She then figured out that it was the thread that was crummy and giving us a hard time, so she switched to a better thread and sewed up the sides of my tail with ease!



At this point we were late to meet another friend at the pool, so we packed up and headed over. I quickly set the mono fin over the tail skin in the locker room and trimmed the fluke into rough jagged points. Once it's dry again, I'll re-trim it a bit to make it look exactly how I want.

I left the bottom of the fluke open, which was great because I could put the tail skin on, then the monofin, and then the fabric flowed easily over the end of the monofin and let water flow through. We didn't have time to do a waistband, so we left it extra long at the waist and I just kinda folded/scrunched it down. It worked REALLY well and didn't fall off at all. The tail looked gorgeous in the water. I'm quite happy with it as a practice tail. I'll probably just trim up the seams and fold over and sew the waistband and keep it as a fold-over waist.

Sorry, I didn't get any pics of the almost-final product or in the pool. Once it's dry I'll try to get some final pics. I need to find my waterproof camera to take to the pool!

[lulubelle]

it looks absolutely FANTASTIC in the water, Kay looks amazing in leopard print. This tail suits you so well, mersister!

and yes, PLEASE find your underwater camera, I am dying to know what my butt fin looks like when I swim, lol.

[KayNS]

I trimmed up the seams and trimmed the fluke shape yesterday before our swim. I'm really happy with how this tail is looking! I've named it Jungle Tail 1.0. I have plans for a future jungle tail as well. Some day I'll actually get a picture of me in it. It flows beautifully in the water.

[KayNS]

Also, I found a pin in my tail yesterday while trimming it! It had survived 2 swims!

[xaccer2]

Ð*оÑ�Ñ�

[xaccer2]

310

[xaccer2]

Bett