Seashell Top

[Jadestone]

I'm making one! :)

I got my shells and netting on Monday:

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I really love them!! The reddish-orangy ones are slightly larger than the white ones, and they're what I'm using for this top (I do have plans for the white ones though!). I'm sewing them onto a nude bra base I ordered a week or two ago, with fake plants etc. I'll post a picture when I finish, or somewhere along the way :)

[Sea Pearl]

How exciting! I bet it will be very pretty. You'll have to post pictures when it is finished Jadestone.

[Jadestone]

I will indeed! It's going very well so far--nettings all sewn on, and I most of the seaweed. Going to add a few more decorations before I had the shells, then add some fake pearls/smaller shells. It looks pretty nice so far, but I'm excited to see it finished!! Going to do a photoshoot in it this weekend as well hopefully.

[Mermaid Marissa]

sweet can't wait to see it done :D

[Ariel-Starfish]

Oooh what a beautyfull shells! :D

[Mermaid Caspiana]

Ooo! Can't wait to see you work an then see you finish!

[Jadestone]

Well, I've sewed/glued everything on so far!! It looks pretty good although I'm worried about the shells falling off... I have them attached with e6000 and let them dry all night, but I might reinforce with gorilla glue after this weekend.

I don't have internet at the cabin I'm staying at and forgot to take a picture on my phone of it though :doh: So it'll be until monday before I have pictures up, haha.

Also... yesterday and the day before were BEAUTIFUL but today is all rainy D: Hopefully it'll clear up and I can still do pictures, but I am pretty dissapointed :( Maybe it'll be super nice tomorrow morning before I leave...

[tealmermaid]

n/a

[Jadestone]

It's too big to embed, but here's a link to the finished top: http://i.imgur.com/ziF5k8Q.jpg

[Jadestone]

Aaaand at a computer again!

The top:
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In action:

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I'll probably post other shots later on the photoshoot thread, once I go through them :)

[Ariel-Starfish]

Waauw :0 looks lovely on you!

[Mermaid Veruliya]

It looks SO beautiful on you girl! So natural

[Jadestone]

Thanks!! I'm really happy with how it turned out. I was pretty nervous that the glue wouldn't hold, esspecially since the shells/bra curve differently so there's not a ton of surface area for the two to stick, but it went great. I lost maybe 3 of the pearls I glued onto the shells, but I think they were mostly in hard-to-stick places. I have like 800 more pearls though, so I'm not too worried about it :)

I fell in love with the color of these shells (I really lucked out! They were random!) so I was really nervous making this haha. I was so worried I'd mess it up and ruin/break/lose the shells! I spent so long positioning everything. Luckily, everything went fine :)

[MerEmma]

WOW! It look SO nice on you, reminds me of Raina's top. It looks really good with your tail! <3

[Marie-Josie Cayer]

Your seashell bra compliments well your mermaid tail! Congrats for your handmade top!

[Jadestone]

Soooo... I'm making another top! Two, actually. One with the white shells pictured above. Thought I'd just revive this thread and keep all my top-making confined in one place, heh. First though, I'm making a seaweed top! I love the way silicone ones look, but the ones currently available are way out of my price range. So, I'm going to make one using fake plants leftover from my top on a bra base w/netting over it. (XMermaidMarinaX's thread inspired me to actually get started on this!). I'm also probably gonna add in small pears and stuff as decoration eventually.

I have all the materials so far (I think? I'm worried I'll run low on one type though...). I've actually already started sewing the plants on since this picture was taken, but gonna try to record progress, so.

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[OceanRose]

Ohh, your first top was so pretty!
I love top making threads (I feel a bit creatively challenged) ... excited to see your next two creations yaay keep up the good work <3

[Jadestone]

LITERALLY MONTHS LATER:

so, that seaweed top! I had a a pretty rough time emotionally last december to... the summer/still, so I couldn't motivate myself to do much beyond classwork. But I've finally gotten a lot done with the seaweed top, and am hoping
to finish it up this week!

Here's from when I started this last january:
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this type of seaweed gave the best overall coverage, although I know it won't be perfect. I'm handstitching it in like so:
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Aaaaand after many many many hours of work, here's where I was on it last friday:
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Aaaaand where I am now!
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and I just want to say: I NOW KNOW WHY NO ONE SEWS SEAWEED ONLY TOPS!!!! THIS TOOK ME SO LONG, LIKE AT LEAST 50 HOURS TOTAL x_x To get from the second to last picture to the last (what I did today) was like 5 hours at least. To be fair I was always watching internet tv/multitasking during those hours, but still! My fingers are GREEN.

I know it doesn't look super impressive yet, but! It looks much better when I lay the netting over it.

These are from before I was done sewing the cups still:
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The netting will go across both front halves, although it will be trimmed more to the shape of the bra with just a bit hanging over the ribs. There'll be a netting strap over one shoulder and across to the opposite side on the back for support. The band will have netting over it/seaweed worked into it too, and I'm going to sew in a ton of fake pearls as well :)

My goal is to finish it by friday, when I might have a chance for a shoot! But we will see x_x

[Genevieve]

Looks impressive to me! Your first one complements your tail so well.

[Miyu]

Ooh, that's looking amazing! I can't wait to see the finished product!!! :clap:

[Yulia]

Oooh, the result is very cute!
Where did you get the seaweed?

[Jadestone]

Looks impressive to me! Your first one complements your tail so well.

Thanks!! I reeeaally love my shell top, the colors are amazing (especially when wet), but I worry about traveling with it in case they break (although they're pretty sturdy and I try to be careful packing them). I had it with me over the summer (I'm in England right now until November, but almost all my belongings are back home in the US) but I was worried I'm going to have less luggage room on the way home, as well as it got colder. Trust me to not book shoots until now when I don't have it!! At least it's motivation to finally finish this new one :)


Ooh, that's looking amazing! I can't wait to see the finished product!!! :clap:

Thanks!! :)


Oooh, the result is very cute!
Where did you get the seaweed?

Thank you! I got the seaweed mostly from Michaels and a craft store chain in Ohio called Pat Catans. It's all plastic stuff, so hopefully it'll hold up well. I'm a bit worried that the color will fade, but I think I'd need to use it a lot for it to be that noticeable, and mostly I'm swimming in lakes, not chlorine or salt water, so hopefully it'll be fine.

[Jadestone]

Progress!!

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Sewed in some pearls, which are very hard to see with these crappy phone pics, and added the netting to one side! And I have enough left on the netting sheet to make the other side & shoulder strap out of the same chunk of material, which will cut down on sewing thankfully x_x

I'll probably be trimming the hanging netting to shape more, but I think I'm gonna have it asymmetrical with more hanging down on the side pictured above, since the other side will have the shoulder strap. I'm also trying not to sew directly onto the band of this bra as it's reeeaaally stretchy >.< I'm going to attach the plants/etc directly to the netting that'll go over the band, and then just tie that behind me over the band. I don't want to risk messing up the fit of the bra by reducing the elasticity. My other top was less stretchy and didn't have this problem as much : /

[Seraphina Suds]

It's looking so great!

[Mermaid Lorelei]

If any of you still can't find that particular seaweed, I've also seen it at Hobby Lobby. That's where I get mine from.

[Jadestone]

Thanks for the tip Lorelei! It definitely seems to provide better coverage while not sticking out a lot, and I think I definitely will want more of it for future tops.

Anyway... spent 4 hours or so sewing the other side/shoulder strap last saturday and misjudged the length :| So gotta tear out those stitches & redo it. Sigh.

[Mermaid Wesley]

That's the greenery I used on my top too! http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/09/d50c33eea121b2936c901e7dd8356516.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jadestone]

Ooo, nice! I really like your lilypads :)

Gettin closer...
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here's me wearing it (a bit before the last picture was taken) and holding the straps in place/hiding some of the excess netting. Gives you an idea of what it'll look like done though!

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[Mermaid Lorelei]

Very nice!

[Jadestone]

AAAAAND FINALLY

10 MONTHS LATER:

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A bit more greenery may be going into the side straps & I can't add more pearls for now because I broke BOTH of the only small needles I have here (I'm living abroad currently), but it is workable/done really!!

I took a 5 month break on this top for a semester of classes, so I'm not sure how much time I put into it actually, but hours and hours for sure. If I do one again: I will embrace the powers of glue instead of handsewing everything. Which I think might actually be a more sturdy plan actually, but, next time I guess.

Anyway, I'm pretty happy with it!! Seaweed tops to me always feel like hit or miss, especially non-silicone ones. So I'm really glad I managed to make this work in a way I like!!

Gonna have a shoot in it on saturday :) I'm really excited!!

[Mermaid Kelda]

Beautiful! Any photos from the shoot yet? :)

[Jadestone]

One so far, and I love it!! It'll be a little while before the rest are ready:

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I might take some others myself though, to show more of the detail! I did that a bit with my old top and forgot to post, so here's a couple of those too:

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I think I did a better job of hiding the bra in the more recent one, I might go back to my other one and touch it up a bit now. I want to make one more shell top too since I have the shells for it, and I'm gonna try to figure out how to change the style from my current one (netting over the shell maybe, and a different style back. If it turns out well I might consider making others for people in the future.

[Mermaid Nerida]

My oh My! These are to die for!!!

[Lotus the Mermaid]

Gorgeous!!! I'm in the process of perfecting a shell top I made recently for a friend. It is really difficult to get those shells to behave themselves and stay where they're supposed to. You did a fantastic job. :)

[MermaidAidenFlames]

I really love the seashell and seaweed tops and it must have been really hard sewing all that seaweed. I've made a few clothes and don't hav a sewing machine (hands end up hurting) xD :). Still both came out amazing! If there was a like button I might break it :)

[Jadestone]

It really did take me SO long to make, but I love the way it looks, especially since I do a lot of mermaiding in lakes, rivers, and waterfalls rather than the ocean! Lots of complimentary greenery around :) Here's some more of it out 'in the field':

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[MermaidSandie]

You look absolutely beautiful in both your tops, Jadestone! I'm loving the pearls you wove into your seaweed, it adds a nice touch, and the colour of those seashells are to die for!!

Not sure if this is still a concern for you, but if you have problems with traveling with your top(s), I like to wrap mine [or any other breakable thing] in a sweater or other clothing that I'm taking with me anyways, and just carry it on if I'm flying. :)

Beautiful work!