Sunset Koi Sequin Tail

[Jadestone]

So, I know I only just made my first tail over the summer (and don't get me wrong, I am in love love love with it) but I do spend a lot of time thinking about tail designs, and I am really into one in particular...

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(ignore the poor quality of both the drawing and the picture--I had to use acrylics since I don't have colored pencils so the blending isn't perfect, and it's a webcame photo since I don't have access to a scanner : P And I was too lazy to draw the fins/fluke lines onto the picture of the back haha)

I know a lot of people talk about making Koi tails, but I haven't actually seen too many completed, especially sequin ones. My current tail is more "goldfish" inspired (and a lot of people do that sort of color scheme I know, especially from Splash!), but since I mostly look good in orange-y tones I thought I might try out a few koi designs.

I want it to have tones fading form reddish orange at the waist to a more golden color at the fluke. Like this fish here:

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And with white patches, though more colored than white. As of right now I don't want any black patches on it, but who knows! But probably not. I am not set in the above pattern of splotches, it was just one that I liked while doodling. It will definitely change as I work to perfect it more.

Anyway... I'd probably do sequins on either spandex or neoprene. Neoprene lasts longer I believe but it'd also be harder to sew, as I don't have an industrial strength machine : / But that's not really my main concern...

...which is sequins. I know a lot of people use the cartwright ones, but I don't think they have enough color variation for what I want : / I could achieve a faded look by "scattering" the colors together, but I'd really prefer a smoother transition. Not sure what I'm going to do about that as of yet.

Anyway, this tail is a long-term project. I don't anticipate starting till summer at the latest (I am abroad currently, with no materials/machines!), and continuing maybe even though the school year, depending on if I sew or glue them.

But, I'm excited and felt like sharing my initial design (: Any input on it or on other sorts of sequins to look at would be lovely!

~ Mermaid Jade

[Nyx]

Ah I love the design!
I attempted to make a koi tail but had a few mishaps and left that project as a test run.
What I would do for the color transition is to point the tail and put clear sequins on top, that's what I'll do for the next tail I want to make.
Good luck! I can't wait to see how it turns out!

[MerEmma]

OOH! I love the design, and I LOVED your past tail. I can't wait to see the completed product if you do it. I can see it with somewhat larger sequins, but not giant. Small ones would be gorgeous as well. Ee! It's gorgeous.

[Dacora]

Yay more koi tails!! Lovely desgin.

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[starlite]

Stunning ;-)

[MerAnthony]

Very interesting I can't wait to see it when it is done.

[Coradion]

That's a pretty Kohaku for inspiration

[devilkitten1]

That would be a lovely tail!

[Merrow Fair Isle]

Your inspiration and design are brilliant. I think it would be gorgeous! Good luck!

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[Jadestone]

Thanks guys! It's been over a week and I'm still really into this design, so I'm hoping it can happen someday. Been thinking about how I could maybe find a way to paint sequins to the colors I want if I can't find any already made... it'd take ages but it could be worth it, maybe.

We'll see. This is a pretty long term goal, anyway ^^

[Ashe]

Really pretty! I love the colors and patterns on that koi fish :) I think it's gonna turn out awesome!

[Mermaid Zoey]

Ah I love the design!
I attempted to make a koi tail but had a few mishaps and left that project as a test run.
What I would do for the color transition is to point the tail and put clear sequins on top, that's what I'll do for the next tail I want to make.
Good luck! I can't wait to see how it turns out!
I remember that! I was there helpin u. I still think it came out good tho :) and also for this thread; LOVE THE DESIGN! :)

[Jadestone]

Soooo I have not abandoned/forgotten this idea! I've been thinking about it a lot recently, and I might try to make it this summer.

My main problem... is I still can't find sequins I'm happy with : / I really want the fading effect between colors and I'm not sure I can do that with sequins the way I want it.

I was reading a thread recently where Odette said she did her tails with individual silicone circles, and I was considering trying something like that but with fabric--cutting out individual scales, painting them, and sewing them to a base. This would allow for total control over the colors, although it wouldn't be as shiny.

Concerns for me would be fraying if I did it wiht spandex... if I did it with neoprene, it wouldn't have this problem obviously, but would also be thicker/harder to attach since I don't think my sewing machine would be able to handle neoprene.

I'm also thinking about switching the colors so it's yellow at the base and dark red at the fluke? It might fade better into my skin that way, and the darker fluke would differentiate it more from my current tail.

Thoughts?

[Jadestone]

*darker just above the fluke, that is. The fluke would still be mostly white.

[MerEmma]

Hmm, ask WavyMermaidy! She did the hand-painted-attached scales. Search her name up on the forums and I think her thread might come up...she won our local Halloween costume contest with her tail, too. :P

[Jadestone]

So, I finally have the funds and time to start this!! I think I am going to go with individual fabric scales instead of sequins. Since I have a spandex tail, I thought this might be a good time to try neoprene, since the scales will help hide the seams.

Emma--thanks for the tip about WavyMermaid's designs, by the way!! They looked great so I'm pretty confident that this would work.


i just need to figure out a place to buy neoprene online... Ideally I'd just get white so paint colors would show up true. i already have some paints in the colors I'd need (red, gold) leftover from my other tail, but I want a nice pearly white for te white sections, so white neoprene would be really necessary there. Any tips on where's cheap? Gonna hunt around online later when I get back to a computer, and maybe take a trip to JoAnn fabrics when I hit up a craft store later this week :)

[Mermaid Dottie]

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[Jadestone]

:)

I keep second guessing what material to go with, neoprene or spandex... I've never worked with neoprene before and it's so expensive, I'd be worried about messing it up x_x Also the backing is almost always black, so I'd have to be able to paint over that/hide it somehow for the scales.
The main reason I'd go with it over spandex is because spandex scales would possibly fray/curl over time, esspecially when painted. Gonna have to do some tests to see if I can get around that problem.

[Mermaid Octavia]

Jade, I don't know if this helps at all but the neoprene Morticia used to make my tail is black on the top with beige-colored backing. I don't know where she gets it from but maybe that will help? My tail is black, purple and silver. Morticia's started with a white base but I don't know if hers has beige backing on the inside.

...of course, I don't know if the beige-colored backing is something she added while sewing or if the neoprene came that way. I'll have to ask!

[Jadestone]

Ohh, good to know Octavia! If you do find out where she got it and if those were te colors it came in, I'd love to know too :)

In the meantime, I think I may experiment with my leftover Lumiere paints to see if they would be enough to stop some of the curling spandex does. Maybe if I braved some sort of glue over them too? Hmm.

[Jadestone]

So! The paint helps stop the spandex edges from fraying/curing really well!! The smaller the section is the more it wants to curl over, but I think that it should be fine, and if there are problems then I'll try coating it in something.

The other thing I'm thinking about doing is double layering the spandex. Since I'm planning to sew each scale onto the tail, the thread/knots would be on the back of the material. If that was the only layer, they'd be more exposed to wearing down. So I'm considering making two tail "skins" of the same size, so I could sew the scales onto the outer one, pull it up over the first, and then sew those two together maybe? Has anyone tried double layering spandex before? It would hopefully keep the tail alive longer too since it'd be thicker.

I'm not certain how hard this would be, though. They'd have to be exactly the same size and I'd need to figure out where to sew it to support it best, and when in the tailmaking process to attach the two layers. Any thoughts?

[Mermaid Dottie]

YES! DO double up your fabric! This will DRASTICALLY reduce hard wear if you take care of your tail right. and, on inner layer, it would be a good idea to put some silicone on your heel area before you sew the 2 layers together. On my first fabric tail, doing that kept my monofin and the floor from wearing holes in it, since it worked like the sole of a shoe.

Also, make spare scales for when they start to wear in certain areas. (like the heels and the butt!)

~For double layering your fabric, make a pattern on wrapping paper from the $1 store first. Use your pattern to cut out your first tail skin. Sew it together, and try it on for size.
~If it's too big, adjust it until it fits just right, then lay your adjusted skin on your pattern and mark and cut out the extra bits that you don't need off your pattern.
~Use your new and improved pattern to cut out your second skin, and then, sew that together.
~If you leave the bottom of one tail open, you can then put your skins together, right sides facing together, and sew around the waist. Turn it right side out, and you can't see the seam. Then sew both the flukes together all the way through. (If your fabrics are different colored, it might be fun to make the bottom extra into some colorful fringe.)

[Jadestone]

Thanks for the great explanation Dottie!! I think I will definitely double layer, then :) I will probably wait to sew the two parts together until I sew all the scales onto the top layer, so I can get at the knots/etc more easily.

I've never worked with silicone, and am not sure where I'd get it (most of the time I hear about people ordering it it's in such big quantities, for scale sheets), but I'll definitely keep that in mind or try to think of other ways to help protect the heel :)

I'm think I'm going to go buy fabric today (as long as my boyfriend says yes to driving me, haha)! I'm waiting to cut out the pattern for the tail halves until August when I'm back home with the leg/monofin pattern I already have made, but I can start testing out scales for now I think :)

I figure, it's about 2 yards to fit a whole tail pattern onto material. If I'm making 2 layers, that's 4 yards. There's a lot of scrap fabric left over from that I can use for scales (looking at the pictures I took for my last tail of the traced patterns, haha), plus I'd need maybe one or two yards more?? Since I'm not planning on covering the fluke with them, which accounts for a lot of the surface area. I think I'll probably just buy one yard for scales for now, and see how far that plus the scrap fabric gets me. I can always buy more--I'm planning on just going with plain white spandex, since I'll be painting it white/red/orange/yellows. This way my paints will all show up as true as possible, and the white will show up at all XD

So, 5 yards total. Good thing I have that 40% off coupon x_x Only spending $50 instead of $80, but it still hurts >.<

[Mermaid Saphira]

Moving on to another tail so soon, Jade? Lol, I know..so many designs to choose from! Good luck with your new feat :D

[Jadestone]

Haha. Don't get me wrong! I love my current tail. Planning a big fun photoshoot with it soon, too! I know I've only had it for about a year, but the one I'm planning out here will take a looong time to make, esspecially since I'll be in school (and am working full time till the semester starts). The scales are gonna take forever to sew on, like sequins. It'll probably be NEXT summer by the time this is finished, haha.

Also, JoAnn's may have to wait until tomorrow :( Couldn't get to a printer before I got out of work, alas, and don't gave one at home.

[Jadestone]

I may not have fabric, but I just ordered a new monofin!! Eep! It's a wave, same as my current one, and paid for entirely in gift cards :) Been meaning to pick up a new one for a while.

Also, ordered lion's paw shells and some netting! Ordered a bra I found on sale online a few days ago, so when the stuff arrives I'll be ready to make a real shell top :)

[Jadestone]

Bought my material!! And some sparkly Lumiere paint to go over the red/gold I already have (and a lot of fake plants for the top I'm hopefully going to make next week, if my seashells arrive...).

Going to do some scales tests tonight or tomorrow morning :)

[Jadestone]

Scale tests!

On it's own, the fabric is pretty see through, but that won't matter too much since I'll be painting it. But I'm glad I'm double layering it, esspecially so the fluke will get a second layer and I'm painting that almost entirely white and it's possible the logo would have shown through.
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Painted! This is pretty much the range of colors I'd be using for the whole tail, not just 4 inches, so the gold would be up by my waist and the dark red down by the fluke, instead of over a 5-inch space, so in the final product it'll look much more blended.
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I got the colors from mixing together in varying amounts Crimson and Metallic Gold Lumiere paints, leftover from my previous tail. The white is Lumiere Super Sparkle!! It's like white-based glitter paint. The white scales are REALLY super shiny under it!

I also added some to the edges of the other scales, to give them a bit of a shimmer, although the gold paint is already pretty shiny.
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[Mermaid Oshun]

I like that a lot. did you cut the material into circles yourself?

[Echidna]

Great method to get shiny, multi-coloured patches on a tail!
Will you glue or sew the sequins?

I tried my hand at sequins for a short while, but they're sooo much work lol!

[Jadestone]

Haha yeah, I cut them out by hand in a rush. Not the final size, I'm still trying to decide how big/small I want them. For these ones I just traced around a teaspoon haha, which is why they're kinda lumpy (it wasn't a full circle). I realized partway through I had a thead bobin about the same size I could have used instead, but oh well. This was just a test.

As for attaching: Not sure yet! I was thinking sewing, but glue might hold better over time. I'm worried it'd really limit the stretch if I glued them though. I may make a duct tape leg mold when I'm attaching them to the tail to solve that problem though. We'll see.

And yeah--I was originally wanting to do sequins, but I just couldn't find the right colors. This should be close enough to a sparkly/shiny scale pattern for me though :) And hopefully it won't require as much constant upkeep.

[MerEmma]

Looks gorgeous! :D

[Jadestone]

Okay so I FINALLY got around to finishing this test patch! Super busy here x_x Have a paper, a discussion, and a photography project due tomorrow and a big molecular biology test on thursday. But I glued the scales to some fabric last week! The glue lets it stretch really well still, I'm SUPER happy with how this is turning out. Here's some pictures to show it in action!!

Normal (yeah I misplaced one of the red scales between when I painted htem/when I glued them on :/ ):
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Stretched horizontally:
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Stretched vertically:
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Lying flat:
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Bent out:
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Bent inwards:
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You can see some little triangles of white when they're bent up like that:
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So I'll use watered down red paint to dye the outer layer of spandex a light pinkish color, which will look like fish skin :) The way it stretches is also really nice--it'll allow for natural movement in the legs without putting a lot of stress on the tail.

I'm really excited about this! I still need to decide on the final size/shape of the scales still. Then the drawing, cutting, and painting will take forever x_x I'll probably save a lot of this for my breaks/do most of it during january when I'm on a very reduced class schedule, but I'm excited to get the chance to start working on it more!! :)

[MerEmma]

Can't wait to see more progress on this--the scales look SO good and the tail is going to look great. :D

[Mermaid Lulu]

so how did it turn out?

[Jadestone]

Just saw your question, sorry! I'm swamped with work this semester and haven't been able to spend time on this tail. I'm planning to do a lot of it in january during my winter term, when I'll have a lot more free time. Gonna just dedicate a couple evenings to drawing/cutting out all those scales while watching movies or something. Painting them will also take a while, but sewing the body of the tail won't be too long. And since I'm attaching the scales with glue rather than by sewing, that should be MUCH faster as well.

Just gotta find the time to do it all :) Believe me, I'm still daydreaming about this project, I can't wait till I can pick it up again.

[Jessica]

Hi jade! I don't know how I missed this thread until today! I love the tail design and your scales look great! You are really talented with a paintbrush and I can't wait to see how this turns out :)