Mertailor help!

[mijomuffins]

I got a mertailor tail, after having another vendor screw me over (long story, not pertinent) and I can't seem to get into the tail. There is always a pucker at the ankle area, that wont seem to pull up, no matter what I do. As a result, when I swim, the tail pulls out of the feet thing, and hurts. My tail is literally 40 pounds. It's heavier than advertised, and I weigh....120 now? so as you can imagine, it's hard to get the damn thing on. Tips? Assistance? Possible cookies for me to eat? I am not sure what I should do. I otherwise love the tail, I just want to wear the damn thing proper.

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Do you have any photos of the wrinkle? Just so we can get a feel for what's going on?

[mijomuffins]

Here is a link: https://www.facebook.com/NorthernStarMermaids/photos/pcb.576941882443526/576941799110201/?type=1&theater
I can't easily post the photo here without resizing it.
I am hoping I haven't gained weight or something...eesh.

[AniaR]

It looks wrong measurements on his end. I know other mers with the same type of tail were able to get seamstresses to fix for them :)

[AniaR]

... Now that I think of it almost everyone I know with one of these got it altered

[26494926bdgqifkwb]

It's really hard to pull it up past the wrinkle. I've had one since December. I usually just scrunch my oversized feet to keep them in the foot pockets.

[mijomuffins]

I also have oversized feet. I am luckily a seamstress. I assume I can just seamrip the seam and open her up more and seal her back up with heavy sail thread. Luckily I just bought a bunch of that. I will try it. I just wonder if my sewing machine will appreciate layers of silicone. I have used latex on it before....I will also email him and see what he suggests.

[Yulia]

Have you tried more lube?

(The "Have you tried turning it on and off again?" of Mermaid tails.)

[AniaR]

these tails are neoprin on the inside so Lube would only make it harder.

[Mermaid Olivia!]

I also have a Mertailor partial silicone, and that wrinkle was such a problem for me when I first got mine- I know exactly what you're talking about when you say that your feet slide out of the foot pockets. I solved the problem by getting a pair of dive booties- they give the monofin strap something to cling to so your feet won't come out, and also pad out the ankle area a little more so the wrinkle isn't as noticeable. Once I get my feet in, I just grasp both sides of the tail at the ankle area and wiggle the wrinkle up until it is smooth. It takes a little elbow grease and takes a while, but that pesky wrinkle will be mostly gone, especially when I flex my feet out straight to swim.

[Mermaid Mystery]

... Now that I think of it almost everyone I know with one of these got it altered

not quite yet! but I have a huge butt gap lol

[Merenneito Nerissa]

I fixed the problem of feet slipping out by adding there a strap which goes over your ankles, so that you can first slip your feet inside and then tighten that another strap over your ankles. Of course I think it would be quite impossible when the tail is so tight... I also got my tail fixed, but it was taken in from the waist.
And I know what you're talking about when it comes to the weight of the tail... The fluke is so ridiculously heavy that after every photoshoot with the tail I was almost crying. Last winter we were taking photos on the snowy rocks by the river, and when I lifted the fluke and tried to keep it steady it slipped and I almost slid to river... ( lol... XD ) So yeah, it only takes a lot of practice to learn to deal with that fluke. Me though, after having enough with the fluke-struggle, ordered completely new tail. Sadly from Mertailor again, and now I have huge problems with the painting, but that's the completely new story...

[Mermaid Mandi]

I have ordered 2 mertailor tails already the first one he made was really big on me that I could wear my tail with jeans on that's how big it was my second tail was to tight that I couldn't even get it up or swim in it that well and now I'm ordering a new one from him but with a little more space than my last tail but as far as getting the feet into the monofin yes it's a little hard but now I order a size 9 monofin so I can slip my feet in and out easy and so that my feet won't hurt while swimming when ordering a tail make sure that your measurements match by measuring yourself 3 times so that they match and don't make it to tight or lose always like go one number ahead or down for some room because when the tail gets in water the neoprene creates a suction.

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[Meronica]

I place my hands on both sides of my calves, right above the ankle and (without digging your nails in) just slide the tail up until that wrinkle goes away. I have done shoots with my basic silicone where I was in a hurry and didn't bother to smooth the wrinkle completely but it's also pretty easy to fix in photoshop.

If you measured the ankle area correctly when you ordered, you should be able to fix this after the tail is completely on (with a little shimmy shimmy, lol).


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[MermaidBrandie]

I have ordered 2 mertailor tails already the first one he made was really big on me that I could wear my tail with jeans on that's how big it was my second tail was to tight that I couldn't even get it up or swim in it that well and now I'm ordering a new one from him but with a little more space than my last tail but as far as getting the feet into the monofin yes it's a little hard but now I order a size 9 monofin so I can slip my feet in and out easy and so that my feet won't hurt while swimming when ordering a tail make sure that your measurements match by measuring yourself 3 times so that they match and don't make it to tight or lose always like go one number ahead or down for some room because when the tail gets in water the neoprene creates a suction.

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Can I ask why you would continue to order from him after so much trouble?

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[Mermaid Jaffa]

I have ordered 2 mertailor tails already the first one he made was really big on me that I could wear my tail with jeans on that's how big it was my second tail was to tight that I couldn't even get it up or swim in it that well and now I'm ordering a new one from him but with a little more space than my last tail but as far as getting the feet into the monofin yes it's a little hard but now I order a size 9 monofin so I can slip my feet in and out easy and so that my feet won't hurt while swimming when ordering a tail make sure that your measurements match by measuring yourself 3 times so that they match and don't make it to tight or lose always like go one number ahead or down for some room because when the tail gets in water the neoprene creates a suction.

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Why not just alter or have someone alter the larger of the tails you got?

[Mermaid Mandi]

I sold both of them had them for years saving up for a full silicone tail.


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[MermaidSidian]

are the colors for the basic tail at least good? and is there any back roads tricks to measuring to make them fit the way you want?

[Mermaid Riia]

Wait what? Why do you peeps keep ordering from him Ö__Ö spare yourself from the trouble :D It's not your fault he doesn't usually deliver.. You'll find excellent tails somewhere else that will deliver, ones that are worth it!

[Merenneito Nerissa]

FutureMermaidNaveh, here you can read my experience of the basic tail's colors... http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?11192-Mertailor-Basic-silicone-tail(new)-color-leaving-and-coloring-bathroom-floor

[MermaidSidian]

FutureMermaidNaveh, here you can read my experience of the basic tail's colors... http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?11192-Mertailor-Basic-silicone-tail(new)-color-leaving-and-coloring-bathroom-floor

Why thank you!, very interesting... i hope they find out why that happened.. at least now they know that this problem existed.

[Mermaid Whisper]

Aw :( I was super excited about the Basic Silicone tails. Now that I hear everyone's having such a hard time with them (and the Mertailor...), I'm not so sure.

How are silicone tails put together, anyway? Can you just stitch them to make them smaller, or do you have to, like...glue it or something? XD

[Mermaid Alea]

The body of the tail is made of a scale sheet. Silicone only sticks to silicone so you use more silicone to make it stick together. To paint silicone you must get pigments and add it to silicone to paint the silicone. The scale sheet forms the body of the tail when the tailmaker attaches one side of the scale sheet to the other using silicone as glue. This is a tricky process because you have to line up the scales just right. Sometimes they need to be trimmed to make them thinner so that the seam will not be as noticeable. It can also be difficult to keep it all in place while it cures.

I haven't heard of anyone stitching a silicone tail to make it smaller. I feel like that would cause the silicone to rip and it might cause mold issues. I think the only way they are re-sized is by carefully cutting them open from the seam, removing some of the scales to make it smaller, then sealing it back up with silicone. If a tail is too big in just the hip area you may be able to just wear a mer-themed belt.

This thread will give you some more insight on silicone tail creating: http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?6947

[Merenneito Nerissa]

Basic silicone tails and partial silicone tails are sewed, I resized my previous tail a bit smaller. However it is a problem with those tails too, they are ripping around stitches, I'm going to add some silpoxy around the seams on my tail because the silicone around the stitching is ripping, especially in ankle area... :/