Making My 1st Mermaid Belt

[Mermaid Saphira]

I have decided that my gold tail needs some mermaid-y acessories and so I am going to make my very first mermaid belt!
My design plan is fairly simple. I am going to start with elastic as the base. The elastic will then be covered with fake
seaweed, pearls, and shells. Fishnet (if I can find any :doh:) will hang around the waist and of course will be decorated
with little trinkets, shells, and pearls! I really really hope everything goes as planned! Wish me luck ;)

[Mermaid Saphira]

Design sketch............

3183

[Mermaid Saphira]

TODAY'S RANT: Darn if I can find any fishnet around here! The cheasapeake bay and you would think I would at least find one thing of fishnet!!! GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AA!

[~Molly~]

sorry to laugh at your misfortune...but the "GAAAAAAAAAAA...." got me ;)

[Kanti]

I feel you, finding fishnet is sometimes pretty hard. You sorta have to dig around or just get it
online. I only ever see it in craft or home-dec stores but like, it's very seasonal.

Try AC Moore, I find they always have it in stock, along with nice lion-paw seashells.

[Mermaid Saphira]

^ If only I had an AC moore here....it is 3hrs away :( do they have a site I could look at?

[Ilonka]

I bought mine on amazon.com, they have it on eBay too. I bought all my materials online, shells, beads, starfish, and cheap too!

[Kanti]

^ If only I had an AC moore here....it is 3hrs away :( do they have a site I could look at?

They have one, (http://www.acmoore.com/) but I'm sure you'd have to pay shipping for them anyway so it'd
be the same as getting them online. ACMoore has shells that are in poor condition for the most part, they're not
vibrantly colored like the ones you usually get online. They're great if you're going to repaint them, though. So
that's always a possibility. If you end up getting them offline, just get them from ebay or amazon like Ilonka
suggested.

Try googling "wholesale seashells". Quite often, if you're looking for lion paws you can find some really nice
other types of shells online, so at least when you're getting your lion paws, you can also get some other nice
shells that you can use for other decorations and knock 2 things off your list at once :')

[Winged Mermaid]

Just letting you know that choosing to work with an elastic base is going to be hard.
I started working on a mermaid belt... god, I don't even know how long ago. Before Raven started making them, but after Raina got hers (that's what inspired me!), so quite a while ago. I still haven't finished it becuase it was such a pain. I used a sewing machine to sew the netting to the elastic (after I used a fabric marker to make it green). I managed to do it, taking it slow steady and careful, but I broke 2 needles in the process. You are going to need a thimble to have any hopes of hand sewing through the elastic to attach anything. Even with my fingers still hurt and were sore, and it was really slow going making sure things were attached so they would NOT come off. I was going for plastic seaweed and several other things but the project kind of fizzed out :/

Either way, just be prepared to have patience and determination! More than me anyway, haha :P Best of luck to you!

[Thalassa]

I found fish net at Hobby Lobby...a lot of it. But it only came in a basic brown, and had holes in it (didn't bother me, as I was cutting it up anyway). Funny note: even though it was brand new, it smelled like fish food! :-S Weird...

[Winged Mermaid]

even though it was brand new, it smelled like fish food! :-S Weird...

Yeah, it's like that :P After it airs out a little the smell will ago away!

[Mermaid Saphira]

I found fish net at Hobby Lobby...a lot of it. But it only came in a basic brown, and had holes in it (didn't bother me, as I was cutting it up anyway). Funny note: even though it was brand new, it smelled like fish food! :-S Weird...


Don't have a hobby lobby :p

[Kanti]

Yea I think the netting just smells because they soak it in some sort of glue/chemical bath
to prevent it from unraveling when you cut it.

Aqua you can always order netting on eBay or amazong for pretty cheap.

[Mermaid Saphira]

I suppose that is my final choice X_x

[Kanti]

It's not a bad option. A lot of the time you can find free shipping so it's not even that bad :')

[Spindrift]

What about Iona's idea of going to military surplus stores for netting? You're in the Chesapeake Bay - there's a -huge- military presence there. There must be a military surplus store near you!

[SireniaSolaris]

Do they not have a Michael's near you? That's the biggest arts/crafts store around here. They have it. Genuine fishnet. It can be a little tough until you get it wet. A small thing is 4.99, big package is 11.99.

[Mermaid Marissa]

AT HOBBY LOBBY ONLINE THERE IS 25% off ALL seashells and FISHING NET!!! XD YESSSSSSSSS (but it's only online)

[Shipwrecked Blue]

I have a Dollar Tree where I live, and during summer they put out beach and luau related items. They always sell fishnets in a few different colors.

[Mermaid Saphira]

no michales.. no military surplus store but there is a dollar tree but no net however I will look again or resort to the internet O_o

[SeaVixen]

Don't have a hobby lobby :p

They sell things online too http://shop.hobbylobby.com/?CFID=19011369&CFTOKEN=f0592697f1021834-56982E05-DF44-D43C-549638C3F0F90B9B

[Lyna]

amazon has literally everything you need. if you cant find things in your price range at michaels...there's always joanns (they have way more craft stuff than you might think)...or there's hobby lobby online...