Painting on fabric tails?

[mermaidwillow]

I make fabric tails out of cloth from joann's that is meant to be made into swimsuits, so it is very stretchy. I love my current tails, but after looking at the amazing creations that some of you other mers have made, I am wondering if it is possible to paint on my tails to give them somewhat of a more realistic scaly look, and if you have any tips on how to paint or what sorts of paints I should use so that it can stretch underwater and not flake or chip? I'd appreciate any and all advice on improving my tails so that I can look even more realistic in my mermaiding endeavors! thanks :)

[Taylor is a Mermaid]

YES you can paint fabric tails! My tail is covered in paint. (Finally, a topic I can really be helpful about!) The types I used are Scribbles fabric paint, Createx, and whatever that spray fabric paint is called that you can buy at Joann's. I was worried about how they'd hold up to water, but my tail has been in both saltwater and chlorinated pools and I am experiencing no chipping or cracking. There are some precautions to take, however.

1. You need to get the fabric as stretched out as possible before painting. This can help prevent cracking and keep the designs from looking warped when you put them on the body. I did this by stuffing my entire tail with old rags, T-shirts, and towels. I wouldn't put anything you care about in your tail though because the paint can bleed through. Then, I put a hardback book in the tail and moved it around so that I would have a flat surface to paint on. I also stretched the fabric more between my fingers as I painted each scale.

2. Fabric paint needs about 3 days to cure before you get it wet. I think I fudged and it was more like 2 1/2 days for me, but so far so good.

3. Keep something between your layers of fabric, because the paint is very likely to bleed through, and if you're not careful it will stain the other side.

4. The fabric will feel different after it's painted: a little rougher and stiffer.

I know that Little Orca and Lindseylu have both done beautiful jobs painting their tails. Little Orca uses Lumiere paint, which is a slightly more expensive option that is metallic and looks beautiful underwater. Lindseylu said she used Tulip fabric spray paint, and her scale method is probably a lot more efficient than quicker than mine: she covered the tail with some kind of netting and spray painted over it, so when she lifted the net, she had a scale pattern! Pretty cool but I wanted to be different, so I painted my scales one by one with a stencil I made out of a piece of clear plastic.

[Little_Orca]

Some one asked me to write a thing about Lumieres.... I really should. *giggle* Just so tired atm.

[Mermaid Cataleya]

What kind of paint do you use tho?? I have spandex mineral

[Mermaid Wesley]

I use tulip fabric paint but some ppl use lumiere fabric paints.


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[Mermaid Coralee]

I am making a neoprene sequined tail but, I don't want to sequin the fluke. I am wanting to know what kind of airbrush paint I can use on the neoprene. All suggestions welcomed! thank you!!!!!

[Sea~Phoenix Savannah]

I am making a neoprene sequined tail but, I don't want to sequin the fluke. I am wanting to know what kind of airbrush paint I can use on the neoprene. All suggestions welcomed! thank you!!!!!

I know you asked this over a year ago but if no one has told you/ you haven't thought of anything yet Jacquard (the makers of Lumiere) have two products that I know would work the first is their lines of fabric paints, both the Lumiere and Neopaque will work as will their pigment (Pearl Ex (it's what many use in silicone tails, you just have to have a medium to mix it with.)) and any airbrush paint that's made for fabrics.

[theMerFanc]

Sorry to necropost here but I didn't want to start a new thread.

I am not artistic, I can't paint or draw to save my life. I have sewn my own fabric tail and it is just a plain solid, boring green. I would like to fancy it up and make it more realistic. But I can't hand paint every scale it will look terrible. Are there stensils I can buy?

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[Dancing Fish]

If you like diamond scales, look for large netting at Joann. Around Halloween they had a nice wide black diamond mesh in the costuming section. It was a little fuzzy, but if all you need is a giant diamond-scale stencil, it worked really great. I used Tulip spraypaint through the mesh to get the diamond pattern, then painted over the diamonds with Lumiere colors (or whatever brand of paint you like). This was easy enough that my 8-year old did a lot of the painting herself. :)

Another fun thing I found was thin semi-sheer plastic sheets for making your own stencils (in the stencil section. Print out the scale pattern you like at the size you want, then put it behind the stencil blank and use an exacto knife (the pen-shaped kind for stencils or scrapbooking) to cut them out. :)

[theMerFanc]

Could I see so me pictures of what yours looked like after you painted it that way? I really like the overlap look that silicone tails have and I do that want a stensil to just look like a to. Of separate scales. I want them to look realistic and overlappy

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