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Mermaid Ripple
03-22-2014, 02:52 AM
Hi everyone! I've never used a forum format till MerNetwork so bear with me.

Like every little girl I've always wanted to be a mermaid. I'm finally making that dream a reality and I'm so ecstatic about it :)

I recently purchased a Mahina Merfin straight from their site: http://www.mahinamermaid.com/
I must say, it may not be as fast as a monofin but its pretty and still functional. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being monofin fast, I would rate the merfin at an 8.

Now, when I was in seattle I picked up a 4ft X 6ft sheet of purple 2mm neoprene from Seattle Fabrics (http://www.seattlefabrics.com/) its very lovely, although I wish I could've bought a 1.5mm width.. (They don't carry that)

So I did my best to follow all of the tail tutorials.. well parts of each tutorial. But, no one has made a neoprene tail tutorial so I had to futz with lots of things and just swim by the seat of my pants.

I recruited my local sewing guru to guide me on my quest. She set me up on my new sewing machine (A BabyLock) and sent me on my way. I can say with confidence that this tough little beast of a machine can handle neoprene!

*Insert lots of frustration and perseverance*

Last night I went swimming with my finished tail and it was amazing. But, I observed that while wearing my neoprene tail cover I was noticeably slower. I'm going to assume thats normal, but I don't know so If anyone has any experience with this drop me a line :)

I'm going to go swimming again and make finishing touches. Afterwards, I plan on painting on some painstakingly pretty scales with the lumiere paints by Jacquard.

If you've bothered to read this all thanks! <3

*I've attached 4 more images that I had to resize so they're all kind of squished. They still show the color of the paint job though :)

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MerAnthony
03-22-2014, 09:31 AM
While swimming in neoprene it will create drag in the water in which will slow you down. ( it's normal ) I myself have 3 tails an 1 is neoprene. I am also planning at the moment on making a 4th tail made out of 2mm neoprene smoothskin. You tail looks great. Be sure to post pictures of scales. :)

Mermaid Jaffa
03-22-2014, 10:17 AM
PURPLE!!!
But why have you worn it inside out?

Mermaid Ripple
03-22-2014, 06:55 PM
Thanks for the kind words MerAnthony! I will definitely post pictures with my painting progress.. although I'm very hesitant to start.

Mermaid Ripple
03-22-2014, 06:57 PM
Ireneho, Its inside out in that photo cause I was in the process of sewing the sides together and I just wanted to quickly see if it fit. If you know anything about sewing I'm sure you'd know that you sew right side of the fabric to right side of the other side of fabric together so that when you flip it inside out you can't see the messy seam on the finished side :)

Mermaid Jaffa
03-22-2014, 09:24 PM
Oh didn't know that! Not a sewing fan, though I will be making my own tail fabric tail soon.