Saborigakusei's Fabric Tail~

[saborigakusei]

Finally starting on this!!! I got some of my fabric in the other day and as soon as I get my sewing machine to stop acting up I will begin this project!

I got a bunch of fabric samples and found some really nice scale prints, but decided to go for a solid color first since I'm pretty terrible at sewing and it'll show fewer mistakes. xD So my first tail will be a really dark blue and flowy, to look like my betta fish. I had him for 6 years or so and he died last year, so I'll be calling this tail Zephyr after him! :)

This is my fabric:
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And I had this other sheer sample that gives it an AMAZING texture when layered, so I'm going to get some of this too:
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Layered looks like this:
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I'm contemplating getting a mahina merfin for this instead of using my hydra to make it look more like a betta tail, not sure yet though. Definitely gonna try to throw in some extra fins near my hips, long and skinny with white tips like his were. :3

I'll keep you guys updated once I make any progress!

[Mermaid Enhydrina]

Those colors are sooo pretty O.O

[Saelyyia]

It is very pretty layered that way but I am curious how the sheer will stand up to chlorine (if this is going to be for swimming). In my experience the finer fabric like that don't always do so well with chlorine exposure.

[saborigakusei]

Thank you so much Mermaid Enhydrina! I don't think the pictures really capture it, but the mesh over top is metallic and it's suuuuuper shiny. I think it'll probably look black in the water unless there's light on it, which will be awesome. I'd actually really like to paint scales on it in black to make it look more realistic... but I'm notoriously bad at painting....

[saborigakusei]

It is very pretty layered that way but I am curious how the sheer will stand up to chlorine (if this is going to be for swimming). In my experience the finer fabric like that don't always do so well with chlorine exposure.

That's true. I'll bring the sample to the pool to test it, but it's nylon and spandex so I'm hoping it'll be fine? The info on the site says to test for chlorine, but it is active wear. Fingers crossed! ^_^

[Madison MerFaerie]

It is so pretty layered! I hope it works well with the chlorine!

[Mermaid Wesley]

Lovely!


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[saborigakusei]

Mermaid Wesley and Maddison Juliette, thank you so much!
My work schedule hasn't allowed me to go to the pool the past few days, but I'll be testing it sometime this week. ^^

[saborigakusei]

Success!!! Went for a vigorous hour and a half swim and both fabrics came out fine! :yay:They're super light and don't retain much water, and that top layer is SO DAMN SHINY in and out of the water:swoon:

...I love shiny. Shiny is good.

Sooooo tomorrow's my day off. I'm gonna get my pattern made (and potentially buy a serger cause my sewing machine and I are not on speaking terms at the moment >.>), and then I just need the rest of the mesh fabric and a different monofin! And hopefully everything will go as smoothly as it does in my mind!

[Saelyyia]

Awesome! I cannot wait to see your tail when it is done. Especially looking forward to seeing how that shimmer reads in the water. You're going to look amazing.

[saborigakusei]

Awesome! I cannot wait to see your tail when it is done. Especially looking forward to seeing how that shimmer reads in the water. You're going to look amazing.


:$ Aww, thank you! I am absolutely in love with that mesh, I cannot wait to get it! Hopefully updates soon~

[saborigakusei]

So I actually never really posted any updates.... I am forcing myself to make this one...


Just stopping by. I have made progress. I have a mostly finished prototype of a tail.

I haven't posted because this project has been really frustrating for me, for a number of reasons:
1. I can't sew
2. I suck at sewing.
3. Sewing is diffucult.
4. It's been years since I've attempted to sew.
5. ....and I suck at it. xD

So basically I did fine with making the body, but I didn't have a plan for my fluke at first and had NO idea how to sew the part around my feet/the top of my hydra. So I winged it. I just made the body and left fabric at the end and said "eh.. I'll deal with it later".

.....Please don't do this.

It ended badly and cost me a good bit of fabric, and I'm still unsure of whether or not I'm going to start completely over or salvage what I have.

So I got so frustrated with it that I just went swimming in it anyway LOL. It actually performed a lot better than I thought! And I seriously cannot tell you guys how GORGEOUS that fabric is underwater<3333. It shimmers blue and purple and really looks like the color on a betta fish. :3

It's reeeeeally heavy, I'm sure due to ridiculous amount of fabric in the fluke and the fact that it's two layers. Noticably harder to swim with than just my monofin, or even the other spandex tail I've tried. It's beautiful though, so it's worth it. Gonna swim in it again today mosty likely, hopefully I'll get pics! :)

[Mermaid Fenicia]

Maybe my tutorial can help you: http://users.telenet.be/the-mermaid/tutoral/meermin/meermine.htm (just follow the green tail) ;)

[saborigakusei]

Thanks MermaidFenicia. Definitely a great reference! The biggest issue I'm having is getting the fabric to be snug and smooth over my hydra's ridiculous straps. x_x

And then, the material I purchased is just difficult to cut and sew in general. So for now I'm brushing up on my sewing and I'll hopefully be back at it soon!

The tail's swimmable, just rough around the edges. But the drag is insane. I swim slower than people with no fins.

I'm okay with it because it's such a workout, and the tail is sooo pretty in the water.... And I kinda really feel like a betta, with a very pretty but totally unnecessary fluke fin xD.

But I'm definitely going to make a new one that's easier to swim in. :)

[Mermaid Fenicia]

I use a Triton (kids-version of the Hydra) and all my tails are fabric, don't have any problems with the straps.
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[xaccer2]

взро (http://audiobookkeeper.ru/book/1081)

[xaccer2]

883.2 (http://cottagenet.ru/plan/1081)

[xaccer2]

Bett (http://eyesvision.ru)

[xaccer2]

CHAP (http://eyesvisions.com/use-your-own-eyes-chapter-31)