New neoprene tail in progress!

[ide]

Hi everyone! Ide here. I just about vanished off of the face of the earth at the beginning of last October when my husband & I separated, and the past 9 months have been completely bonkers, but I'm back with enthusiasm.

Between that, and my circus troupe taking off, mermaiding took a back-seat in the colder weather, and now it's summertime and time to up the antte, more in-water bookings have been lining up, and I'm working on a brand new tail that can better accomodate gigs which are partially on land (lightweight) and partially in water (very comfortable & efficient for swimming), but are more fancy (such as weddings & corporate gigs) than my magictail.de tail. Soooo! Here goes nothing! HUGE thanks to all of the resources that are up here on MerNetwork, I couldn't have done this without you.


I commissioned the sewing for the base (I hired a friend who, fittingly, is currently making costumes for a big production of The Little Mermaid), and I started painting it today. *smile* This is 1.5 hours of painting, so far. Once the paint is finished, I'm going to slowly (over the course of a year, hah) cover the entire thing with shell-shaped sequins. I'm keeping the "underbelly" light & dolphinesque, and am going for a very tropical look. :)

xoxo

[Mermaid Caidence]

Great job! Where did you get your neoprene? And woudn't covering it in sequins cover the paint? Unless you used seethrough sequins....

[ide]

Thank you!! I don't remember, I got it online somewheres... ^ ^; sorry, that's not helpful. There are good resources here, I think I followed the advice of someone else on this forum when looking for Neoprene, and now I can't even remember where it came from, it took about a month to gather all of my materials and get the tail-body sewn. <3

I plan on eventually covering all of the paint, yes, but it's a nice temporary fix so that I can use the tail before it's "finished" because I need it to look good enough for a gig on August 25th. :) I think the sequins will probably take me most of a year to really finish, if not longer, but I am not waiting that long to use the tail. ;)

Further paint-progress photo attached.

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[Mermaid Caidence]

That looks like some nice blueberry juice in the corner. xD

[ide]

Right? You'd think I'd have a better "paint-water" cup than an ornately etched wine-glass... I really am far too careless with my things, it's not like I have many wine-glasses to spare. Always fancy. Always.

MOAR PROGRESS! <3
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[Mermaid Caidence]

lol. Great progress! Love the different colors!

[Ilonka]

Such a pretty paintjob!

[Cordelia]

This is so cool! I love the colors you've chosen, and it's neat to see the progression between the different painting stages.

[Winged Mermaid]

Looking good! Though I would like to point out if you're using acrylic paint is is going to make it harder to sew anything on :/ It's like added melted plastic on top of neoprene. You'll need something protective for sewing. Hello thimbles!

[Mermaid Marissa]

This is a beautiful paint job I cant wait to see it finished :D

[Mermaid Marissa]

What did you use for the side fins? It's so pretty :D

[Cordelia]

Ooh, I was wondering that too. I added some ribbon to my dorsal fin, around the waist, and on the flukes. I didn't cut it to fit, because I thought it would end up falling apart in the water. :S It looks fine, but I had to pleat the ribbon to get it to lay with the shape of the fins.

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Looking lovely Ide! I must admit though, I do kind of miss seeing pictures of you in your purple silicone tail. It just looks so lovely on you! I understand the reasoning behind a neoprene tail, though. It would be a LOT easier to move in. XP

[ide]

Looking good! Though I would like to point out if you're using acrylic paint is is going to make it harder to sew anything on :/ It's like added melted plastic on top of neoprene. You'll need something protective for sewing. Hello thimbles!

The acrylic is so thin compared to what I've been sewing through so far (velcro, vinyl and neoprene, and acrylic paint - all layered) it's a rather minor difference. It's behaving the same as other fabric paints so far, which is great. :)

I've already finished one row of sequins along the bottom of the fluke (on one side). When I get a bit further along I'll keep posting photos.

Thank you everyone!! The extra fins are all vinyl shelf-matting, they feel lovely to the touch and are easy to sew through, too. I have leather needles because I thought the neoprene would be trickier to work with, but so far I've only been using a regular needle and it's going great. :)

[ide]

The shoe size in the silicone tail is also too-small enough that I can't wear it for more than an hour, even in water, because it hurts. :'( I may end up selling it, tragic as that is... Between it not quite fitting right (owch) and how heavy it is on land (60 lbs - mostly in the fluke), it doesn't really work for the type of bookings I'm getting, which require me to be carried into the event and then set in water and/or spend some of my "in character" time on land.

It's great for photoshoots, but, I need something I can perform at parties in comfortably. Something high-end looking enough to book at corporate events and weddings. Soooo... here goes nothing! ^ ^;

[Mermaid Lorelei]

What is the foot size?

[malinghi]

It looks great. Seems like a shame to cover such a nice paint job in sequins.

By the way, that looks like a nice rug. Aren't you afraid of getting paint on it?

[ide]

It looks great. Seems like a shame to cover such a nice paint job in sequins.

By the way, that looks like a nice rug. Aren't you afraid of getting paint on it?

I kept most of the surface I was painting on a wooden art-board/easel for that reason, but, yeah, I used a lot of fancy things (etched wine glass, nice carpet) while I was working. :p So it goes. No accidents so far.

And to Lorelei : Shoe size 7-8, waist should be between 31" and 33", I have 34" hips and it's too snug. It's also ideal for someone between 5'7" an 5'9", I'm 5' 10" and it rides pretty low, which is fine, but risque. ;)

[Ilonka]

How much are you selling it for? It's such a beautiful tail, I love mvd's tails I would love to have one.

[Mermaid Lorelei]

I'm curious as well. If you do sell it, how much are you thinking?

[Mermaid Jewel]

Hm I might be interested as well but I probably still can't afford it. It's just such a gorgeous tail and color! Though my waist seems a bit too small and I have 34 hips as well so it might not fit well :/

And about the sequins, I was looking at some pictures of Hannah Mermaid and here she kinda does patches of sequins I think, so the paint still shows up. Maybe you'd want to sew them like that? So your fabulous paint job still shows up?
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/538896_10151027510861414_1250497628_n.jpg

[Mermaid Marissa]

^ I love this picture! but I might be interested in buying it as well (tho my hips are about 38 >:( curse my hips!!!) but I think your tail's really coming along and it will be beautiful :D

[ide]

Hi all! Sorry I'm a bit sporadic when posting her on MN (the rest of my life eats me up!) ^ ^; I will post more tail-progress photos soon. :) I'm not too concerned with protecting/showing-off the paint job, it really is just something temporary, though, again, I think adding sequins will take me a few years, so, it might as well be something good in the meantime. :) Thanks for all of your kind words! I do plan on having patches of sequins (and sequins along the top, bottom and sides) before it's completely covered, so it will go through many stages.

RE: Purple MVD tail. --v

If you're a shoe-size 8, but have 34" hips, you'd fit it better than I do. I can get into it (and my hips are 34"), but it's tight. I'm not positive that I'm selling it yet, I adore it so, but, it really hasn't gotten any use (certainly not for gigs/work) because of the weight making it impractical. Naturally, I'd hope to recuperate most of my costs purchasing it, since it's seen so little use (just a couple of photo/video shoots). I paid $2500 (half of it's original price), but could drop to $2000 to see it go to a good home, maybe even less. I'd love to see it actually get the use it deserves, it's so beautiful... *sigh*

Still, I think the tail I'm making now will help make up for it. *smile* Serious inquires please feel free to Email me at bunnyzlotnik (at) gmail.com

[Mermaid Jewel]

I think I'm gonna let that go, because I might have some money soon but it'll be a while and I bet that someone else could get it and use it more than I will :D And I can't wait to see your tail! It's going to be like having multiple tails with all the different looks xD

How many sequins do you think you'll be using? I'm trying to see if I should make a sequin tail...

[ide]

I have around 10,000 12mm sequins... we'll see if it's enough, I'm not sure, but it's at least a damn good head start. :)

Here are some progress photos from today (I started the waistline today, still working on the bottom of the fluke, then I'm doing the sides, and some mottled patches of sequins...)

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[Spindrift]

Looks like a LOT of work. Good luck!

[Mermaid Jewel]

Oh you have round and seashell type! Nicee, it looks good :D I love the colors!
I decided to do a sequin tail too but now I'm not sure if I'll have a tail done by our vacation in about a month and a half. Maybe if all I did was sew sequins for a month...

[Mermaid Caidence]

I have around 10,000 12mm sequins... we'll see if it's enough, I'm not sure, but it's at least a damn good head start. :)

Here are some progress photos from today (I started the waistline today, still working on the bottom of the fluke, then I'm doing the sides, and some mottled patches of sequins...)

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Did you get your sequins from cartwright? If so, what kinds did you get? (hologram, iris, satin...?)
I'm having issues with the hologram ones. The coating is rubbing off.
Great job!

[Mermaid Jewel]

They look like iris and iridescent...I'm looking at cartwright too :D

[Mermaid Caidence]

I woudn't suggest ordering the holograms. They are rubbing off. :(

[ide]

I did order from them, and they're all iridescent. :) Good luck! Yes, it is a lot of work. I think it'll be at least a year before mine is finished, if I work at a somewhat leisurely rate. A month I'd call straight-up impossible. Four or five months of hardcore sewing might do it, if you weren't doing a lot else. Having friends to help is good, too. ;)

Another update (after sewing today. More on the fluke, too); too lazy to re-upload: http://instagram.com/p/Mo2fI7gAya/?fb_action_ids=10100452941832798&fb_action_types=instapp%3Atake&fb_ref=ogexp&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=282366635119873

[Mermaid Jewel]

Nice, looking good! And darn, I was hoping to try and finish mine before summer ended...O.e

[Mermaid Caidence]

Looks great! Do your sequins shift around a lot? Whenver I sew mine, they turn to the side a lot. That's why I was also thinking of glueing mine down. I might get it done this summer....if I wasn't moving to Canada in a month, and actually had all of my scales and everything.

[Mermaid Momo]

the sequins are coming around nicely! but wouldn't it have been easier to start from the bottom-up so that it'll be easier to layer the sequins on top of each other without having to lift up the layer on top?

[Mermaid Lorelei]

I really love the different types of sequins you're using. It gives some very nice dimension along with the color differences. Thumbs up! As for your lovely purple tail, I might be able to get it after I've sold a few of my own pieces. I'll have to see. :/

[Mermaid Caidence]

You know, I think it could be cool looking if you paint your tail, then cover it with all clear sequins. You would have scales, but still be able to see your paint.

[Mermaid Jewel]

I was thinking about doing that, but the sheen of the sequins might lighten the paint job and make it hard to see :/

[ide]

the sequins are coming around nicely! but wouldn't it have been easier to start from the bottom-up so that it'll be easier to layer the sequins on top of each other without having to lift up the layer on top?

I am working from the bottom up - and the top down, too. As well as fading sequins into the rest of the tail (thinnest in the center) so that I can perform in it and it will look "finished" for a gig in a month and a half. Eventually, it will be fully covered, but I need it to look presentable sooner than I'll be able to cover it completely. :)

Thanks everyone, but I really don't like my paint-job that much. ^ ^;; it's just a "tide me over" kind of thing... It's a little hurried/slapped together, painting one side took less than 3 hours, I've spent that long doing body-paint before.

To Caitlin, my sequins aren't turning sideways much, but they're also tightly layered enough that even when they do, the neoprene doesn't really show. :]

[Mermaid Caidence]

k thanks! :)

[Mermaid Narina]

looks so amazing!!! I was considering doing this, but it depends on how long it takes.. how many sequins would you say are neccessary? I want to order enough coz they are coming from usa and i have to organise shipping transfer to australia- not a hassle i want to go through twice! :O
gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous design <3

[MerEmma]

The paintjob is SO pretty, omigosh! The sequins are a good color to match it, as well. Have you gotten any further along with it?

[MerCat]

After looking at many many ideas for a tail of my own, I've decided to go the neoprene/sequin route, yours is lovely! I was curious about the belt that was sewn into the waistline, was that very hard to do? and where did you find the equipment? The most confusing part to me about the whole tailmaking process is probably going to be the zippers haha

[Ashton]

Is there any update on your tail? It looks wonderful so far, I would love to see how it continued.

[Vela]

I love your tail design and I can't wait for the final product. I want to make a sequin tail too! It looks amazing!

[*Celine*]

this is looking great!!! I love the soft colors! hey, about that MVD tail, did you sell it in the end?