First time tailmaking--Jade's attempt

[Jadestone]

Well I'm looking to make myself a relatively cheap tail this summer... I have free time but not much cash. I'm going to attempt making one out of swimsuit fabric (nylon/spandex) and other assorted materials. I'm weird and don't mind tedious hand-sewing for hours so sequins will almost certainly happen.

I've been looking through fabrics... I'm leaning towards something blue/green, though I have a suspicion I might look better in an orangy-gold color.

This seems like the safest choice. It's 4-way stretch, seems fairly strong, and I like the color well enough (though I'd prefer pattern or colors that fade into one another)

Others I liked at were this one, which seems RIDICULOUSLY cool as a pattern but it doesn't say if it's 4-way stretch or not, or list if it's suitable for swimwear. Also no blue/green : / I'd settle for the purple because I love the look of it so much but without knowing how it'd stand up in water I don't think it's a safe choice. Same with this, which I might like the pattern of even more and even comes in green or that cool blush-purple/greenish-gold! I might even just get a swatch of that second one, even though it'd mean waiting longer to start, because I like how it looks so much.

I'm also considering making my own monofin out of a pair of flippers we have for cost reasons. That will be done first most likely.

Anyway! I'm just really excited and felt like making a thread. I have design ideas sketched out, but not scanned yet. I'll do that tomorrow. Let me know if there's anything else I should know about fabrics or any other helpful suggestions! I've read a lot of the threads in this topic so far, and just that has been awesomely instructive



- Jade

[Mermaid Saphira]

I too am working on making a mermaid tail on a budget for a friend. She had exactly $50 to spend and because of her shoe size, I got her a pair of flippers and I am working out a way to make them more mermaid like. You can view that thread here. We are also ordering her fabric from spandex world, they have very nice spandex material for $8.00 a yard. My friend still has $48.95 left over. If you have any question, please feel free to ask and I will try and help you as much as I can

[Jadestone]

Thanks!! I did actually read through that thread, it's given me some inspiration for how to make the fins work. I also like the flippers over the monofin because they're less rigid. Was going to dig out the fins from the basement closet today and try them out in our lake but the water is low which means seaweed = everywhere. I'll probably have to rake out a patch so I can have a clear place to test.Buying material looks like it's going to have to wait a few weeks... going out of town on saturday and won't be back till mid-august. Alas! More time to design I suppose.

[Lyna]

am i the only one not on the boat for creating my own tails? sheesh. at least now if i get one from everyone (as i've been buying so far...) i'll have every color and design known to man and then some! ha!
good luck in your endeavor honey. it's so impressive the creativity and talent i see in merfolk!

[Jadestone]

Haha, well I'd love to buy one of the gorgeous ones I see other people making, but I just don't have the cash. Poor college student and all. I'm not sure I'll ever get to the silicone level myself (so much work and time, though a truly lovely output, but so many materials x_x ).

[Jadestone]

Hey! When I read the old threads here, there was someone who made a scale-pattern on a fabric tail she made by stuffing it, covering it in a fishnet, and then spraypainting over this. I can't find that thread right now, but do any of you know what kinds of spraypaint (or just normal fabric paint I guess) work best with fabric tails? Since it'll be in the water a lot (hopefully!) I want to make sure I get the right sort of supplies

Was going to upload the design ideas I drew out, but I'm on a family vacation with limited internet for the next 10 days so that might need to wait, alas.

[Spindrift]

You can try looking into Jacquard's Lumiere fabric paints.

[Jadestone]

The Lumiere paints look beautiful! I'm a bit cautious about the needing to be heat-set though. I don't have a heat gun, and I don't think the fabric I want is supposed to be ironed... could possibly do the dryer method, though. And the colors are BEAUTIFUL, man they have exactly what I want! A bit pricy but so pretty ^^

[Jadestone]

Back home from two weeks of vacation and then 10 more days of being away from home, so FINALLY getting ready to start my tail!! I've decided to just go ahead and buy the Wave monofin. The old flippers we have aren't quite the right size for me, and I've decided I care enough about mermaiding to invest in a real monofin.

Also going to go with shiny orange milliskin, and daffodil yellow for the fins. Gold/crimson paint for scale details, redish on the sides fading to the gold in the middle/back. Also sequins if I have time.

Anyway... here's some ideas I drew out while in the car while I was away. Excuse the shakiness and lightness of the lines. I like the idea of short, horizontal fins on the sides but I'm not sure how well it'd work with fabric. Longer side-fins would be easier, but we'll see.



Anyway... I AM SO EXCITED. I've been thinking almost nonstop about how much I want a tail, and even practiced only using dolphin kicks to swim last weekend when I was in Lake Erie. Put a hair tie around my ankles to train them to stay together even (don't worry, I am an excellent swimmer and could easily have removed/broken it if needed).

[Jadestone]

Monofin OFFICIALLY ORDERED. Mom wants me to wait to buy the fabric until after I finish my other project (a large plush cuttlefish to go with the huge plush squid I made), but I should be ordering that in the next couple days. At least I have the other project to occupy me while I wait for the fin to arrive in 5-8 business days. I can't wait to take it out to the lake we live on and play with it.

[Jadestone]

MONOFIN HAS ARRIVED!! Sooo much faster than I expected it too as well. Wow!

I want to try it out but there's some stranger (well, a hired stranger) over painting our house and I would feel awkward swimming while they are here Maybe they will leave before it gets too late.

I'm glad I waited for it to come before measuring myself though... it spaces my legs apart farther than I would have guessed and I wouldn't have taken that into account.

I guess now it's time to draw out a better design, with color this time!

[Spindrift]

Happy designing + crafting!

[Jadestone]

My fabric finally arrived! *dances*

I've been working on my pattern this afternoon... finally think I got all the measurements right (and glad I decided to measure myself with the monofin on, it spread my feet apart more than I would have guessed otherwise).

Oh, and here's the design I think I'll be going with:


I really love red/orange/yellow color schemes because of the way they contrast with the water. They're also colors that would look good on me. However, I know a lot of people pick them because of Splash!... which I actually have not seen. So I wanted to try to figure out how to use these colors without it being too much like that tail. I figured I'd make the back much more red than orange, and a larger yellow section on the front. I'm also going to try to give it darker stripes leading from the back into the belly. Hopefully this will make it more unique, despite the more common color choice.

I also really wanted it to have fins, but I wanted to not have a lot of seams, so I went with ones that attach vertically (I can just sandwich them between the front/back seams this way, and won't have to leave extra material accounted for them).

The fluke... shape is not certain yet, going to draw a few options out and pick what I like best. I want to make it more interesting than just the Wave monofin shape, but I don't want to cut my monofin, so instead I'm going to glue zip ties to the fabric/monofin to give it the extra shape. It'll also make the end a bit less rigid, without decreasing the propulsion from the monofin itself. I'm undecided if I'm going to leave the ends smooth or tattered, I'm going to wait until I'm closer to the finished product to decide

[Jadestone]

Pattern drawn and cut out! Clipping the ridges off my monofin with tin snips now, I don't really like the look of them. Also been experimenting with how I want to lengthen it to fit the shape of the fluke. I glued two zip ties together with E6000, and they're about the rigidity I'm looking for. I'll probably glue one above/below the monofin with another in the middle to leave a gap for the fin, and have one of them taper off before the other two do. Hopefully this will gave the "flowing" effect I'mm striving for. I'll also be able to just let the zip ties go through the velcro I want to keep the monofin pocket closed, since they'll be spaced far enough apart it will still stick fine.

[Jadestone]

Just thought I'd share with everyone how I ended up shaping my fluke in the end

First, I took my pattern and placed my fin on top of it. Then I taped zip ties all around the edge of the monofin so they lined up with the edges of the pattern.



Then, I went back around and glued down the zip ties with E6000, cutting off the ends as I went. At first I kept them long, thinking that they might stay attached better because of the larger surface area glued to the fin, but then I decided that they'd stick better if they were shorter because then the movement/rolling of the fin wouldn't stress the glue as much. I didn't go back to fix the others, so if some of them seem to be lasting better than others I'll know for the future if I ever try this method again.


Then I began to place strips of duct tape (you can see where I actually started this on the left in the last two pictures) along the back of the monofin/zip ties, and then placing another above, sandwiching the zip ties in. I ran my nails along the edge of each tie as I went to make sure the tape was firmly affixed, so the zip ties look and feel raised on both sides of the fin.


More duct tape...


And more...


Duct tape finished, retraced the original pattern on top, making sure to line it up with the monofin/zipties


Aaaand done! Cut out along the traced lines



I decided on the tape/zip tie combo because I was looking for something that wouldn't be too different in flexability from the fin. The zip ties get more flexable the farther they are from the fin, and the tape keeps everything secure/the same distance apart while adding support and making it a tiny bit stiffer. I've also had doubled-up duct tape submerged in a sink for over two days now and it shows no signs of unsticking to itself. It might become a bit less sticky over time, but it'd mostly be at the edges and I think this is durable enough to last for a while. I haven't done any tests in chlorine or salt water, and in theory the chlorine might eat at it a bit faster, but overall I think this should last me long enough. I'll try swimming with it (in the lake I live on) later, I can't imagine this would add any propulsion, but it hopefully didn't detract any.

[Jadestone]

Mostly sewn I still need to take it in a bit more in places. Went for a test swim with it today and decided it it was bubbling/rippling a bit too much. Also still need to add the side fins/adjust the tatters on the end of the fluke a bit more, but I wanted to make sure the body of the tail was how I wanted it first



The dark spots on the tail are water from my hair dripping on it, ehehe. Hoping to start painting tomorrow.

[Mermaid Loki]

Nuuuu I can't see the pic! And HOORAY FOR SIDE FINS! *has always wanted them*

[ShyMer]

Your monofin mod looks interesting. How's that working out for you? I can't see the picture either

[Jadestone]

Hmm, that's strange, I uploaded it just like normal. I'll try again...

[Spindrift]

I see the photo just fine in both posts. Your progress looks great! I really like the creativity you used with the zip ties and duct tape!