Nicky-Katz sews a tail

[Nicky-Katz]

Hello, Merfolk of the world!

This will be my first tail and my first tailmaking project. So I'm really exited about it! I actually never had a definite picture for this. I just bought some black swimwear fabric (I actually wanted dark another colour, like grass-green, but all that was in stock in the store was plain ugly and no pretty green shades at all) and my boyfriend picked up what he thought would look nice as fins - it happened to be nice turquoise chiffon fabric with a neat gold shimmer to it. What I was planning is just make a hose covering my legs and fluke and sew the chiffon on the end of it. But I was browsing others' tailmaking adventures and yesterday I actually found a glass of golden textile paint in my art supplies drawer and had to use it (since I don't know anymore what it was actually bought for :D ). So yesterday I've cut a piece off of my tail fabric and painted a test swatch. I was worried that the fabric would melt as the paint has to be heat set, but it went on smooth and now I'm confident about what I want and how I'd make it.

At first I wasn't happy with colour choices at all, but as I've seen how cool my gold paint looks on black... BANG! An image popped out in my head and what at first was just something to get a feel of a tail on me and to use for practise may actually turn put great.

I used to sew stuff some time ago and used to dream to become a fashion designer (now I'm studying Informatics and LOVING it :D ). Anywho, I've got some help from my friend on making a pattern and measurements. So I'd also try to make a little how-to about taking measurements, creating a pattern and sewing it.

I've also make some photos and will upload them later.

P.S.: This project doesn't have the highest priority, but I'll try to be frequent and have my tail ready as soon as possible.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Pics?

[Mermiah]

I am seriously looking forward to seeing your tail :D I love when people apply textile arts to tailmakeing (I'm a bit of a textile nerd :P)

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Black with painted on gold scales? Going to be super awesome!

[Nicky-Katz]

So... as I said before: here are some pictures:

This is my exact pattern before I altered it to make the front and back sides of a tail and also before shrinking it to fit the stretchy fabric:

http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy182/Opiumsmoke/OpiumSmoke/Catfish/IMG_20140321_170719_zps7e4576f0.jpg

What I am going to to is make one half of the pattern wider, while slimming a bit on the front. I also have to lengthen the side seams on the waist (back) and lower the middle line on the front. This is done for a simple reason: butt is rounder than front and therefore longer, so doing these manipulations on a pattern ensures best fit. Next thing I am going to do is sew an "as is" prototype out of some fabric to make sure everything fits and seams run there, where I want them to be. Note to self: remake the waist part to the correct pattern.
Also, when working with stretch material one has to take it's stretchiness into account: if sewn without making a pattern smaller (according to the rate the fabric stretches), the finished product might me far too wide and will never fit correctly. So what I am going to do here is take a piece of my fabric stretch it to desired testion and measure 10 centimeters, then let it loose and measure it again (the same amount of fabric that made the measured length). What I get then is the rate my pattern should be shrunk down. E.g. 10 cm is my 100%, and what I stretched it to was 8 cm long, so I'll have to take 20% off of my pattern width. As I do not want the fabric to be tense along the tail, I will leave the length at 100%.

I hope, that it wasn't too confusing. I'll answer any questions on how to make a pattern if it's not clear :)

Next one! My fabric. On the left - stretchy black swimwear and chiffon on the right. The colours are actually better, but it was dark, so shoot! :D

http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy182/Opiumsmoke/OpiumSmoke/Catfish/IMG_20140321_181013_zpsb8865a66.jpg

Look what I've found! A glass of golden paint!

http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy182/Opiumsmoke/OpiumSmoke/Catfish/IMG_20140321_181123_zps80a41d23.jpg

I do not want to buy extra paint so I'll be only painting the fluke. If my said designer friend gives me the rest of her paint I might also paint some scales on or something. Not so sure though. Anyway. Here is my swatch painted and drying happily:

http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy182/Opiumsmoke/OpiumSmoke/Catfish/IMG_20140321_182226_zps07f196cc.jpg

And the same swatch beautifully glowing in the sun all dried up ad heat set! All my worries about burning the fabric disappeared! I'm going to paint it!

http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy182/Opiumsmoke/OpiumSmoke/Catfish/IMG_20140322_132420_zps6a59ae00.jpg

I simply love how the gold shimmers!

[Carolina Mermaid]

That is gorgeous!!!!

[Ashe]

Pretty! I think the black, gold and turquoise are going to look awesome together. Can't wait to see more :)

[PearlieMae]

That is a fabulous color combo and I love the shimmer of the gold! The black is so elegant!

If you make a scalloped edge stencil, you could dry brush that gold, like the feathered swatch in the center of your sample, as though you had gold-tipped scales and have enough paint from the one bottle! If you have any paint that matches the turquoise, one tiny dot on the center edge of each painted scale would tie it all together.

Just a thought. ;)

[Miyu]

Ooh, I love that chiffon stuff! I'm using some for my tail as well :3 And I love that black + gold - so beautiful! And the blue is so pretty as well!

Haha yeah, swimwear fabric stretches a lot... I had to take in the sides of my spandex tail quite a bit before I started sewing, so it would fit right - spandex is SO STRETCHY! And it will stretch even more in water, LOL :P
I didn't want to deal with pins while trying it on to re-size it, so I used a quick basting/running stitch by hand, and just kept adding more basting in the spots I needed to take in more until I was happy with it.

I can't wait to see what you come up with! :3 What monofin are you using? That shape reminds me of the Hydra...

[Nicky-Katz]

Thank you for really nice comments! =^-^=

Pearly, you've got me there! I did find a bottle of sky blue paint in my drawer, it is UV active (and would be great), but it is invisible on my fabric. I have also mixed gold and blue, but the result is just slightly different from pure gold, just a bit less shiny.
So... tomorrow I'm going to the art store and see if they have covering textile paint and how much it costs. Or not :D But you've got me thinking serious!

Miyu, that's indeed a Hydra. I love my fin :D
And this is also the reason I'm sewing a non-stretchy prototype first :)

[Nicky-Katz]

I knew I wanted to have ankle fins on my tail, but was not sure how they should look like. About two hours of experiments with a piece of my organza fabric produced a shiny and shimmery result! At first I took a single piece of fabric, but it didn't seem to look right until I folded it in half. So then I did all the same, cut out two pieces of triangular shape (they were cut in a way I could fold them in two and get my desired shape), then I've sewn one seam on the shortest side, reversed, sewed the longer side... and then switched my thread to gold one and stitched zig-zag seam on the edge and also added some... eeh... stripes in the same design, to resemble fish-fins! Voilà!

http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy182/Opiumsmoke/OpiumSmoke/Catfish/IMG_20140324_152727_zpsdc4329c5.jpg

Unfortunately it's cloudy today - they look much more shimmery!

Some close-ups on the details:

http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy182/Opiumsmoke/OpiumSmoke/Catfish/IMG_20140324_152742_zpsf18bd036.jpg

http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy182/Opiumsmoke/OpiumSmoke/Catfish/IMG_20140324_152800_zps2c32e6cf.jpg

[MermanOliver]

Wow! That really looks great! Especially the golden seams on the fins are a really nice idea. You are quite talented in sewing, that's for sure. I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished tail. It will be gorgeous!

[Nicky-Katz]

Thanks, Oliver! I could trim your tail in such a way if you like.
For chocholate! :D

[Miyu]

Heehee Hydra FTW! I like having the ability to make translucent flukes. :3

[Nicky-Katz]

Thanks, Miyu! I've also cut the fluke ends out, but still have to sew them.
I'm going to get the test fabric this week to make the first fit. Huwee! I'm so exited!

[Nicky-Katz]

So, today I went to an art store in search of matching turquoise paint. You made me do it, Pearlie! :D And picked up a small bottle of paint. It's a different brand, so.. who knows. But I liked the colour. It's actually more greenish.

http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy182/Opiumsmoke/OpiumSmoke/Catfish/IMG_20140326_195436_zps6a864c22.jpg

http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy182/Opiumsmoke/OpiumSmoke/Catfish/IMG_20140326_195448_zpseea0d92f.jpg

So the first thing I did upon arriving home was paint another test piece. It actually turned out pretty good.

http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy182/Opiumsmoke/OpiumSmoke/Catfish/IMG_20140326_200312_zpsc312da68.jpg

Still, it looks more greenish, like really... it has the same colour the seawater of my home town has on a so seldom windless day...
This paint doesn't have to be heat set (it can be let to dry on itself for at least three days, so I'm just going to see what happens to it after it dries out). Next thing I've got was fabric to make a test tail. It's cotton, I suppose. I've got it from my designer friend yesterday:

http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy182/Opiumsmoke/OpiumSmoke/Catfish/IMG_20140326_195405_zps2b33225f.jpg

It doesn't have to look good, it's just there to make a perfect fit from just one try with the main fabric.

And then I've continued to work on my fluke:

http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy182/Opiumsmoke/OpiumSmoke/Catfish/IMG_20140326_211659_zpsc09bcae3.jpg

My sewing machine isn't in frequent use, so it stands on the floor and I'm sitting before it. It would have been comfortable if I wouldn't have to lean forward so much :P I'm getting a hobby room as soon as we move into a house :D

So what I produced was pretty neat:

http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy182/Opiumsmoke/OpiumSmoke/Catfish/IMG_20140326_211226_zps3b964ef5.jpg

http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy182/Opiumsmoke/OpiumSmoke/Catfish/IMG_20140326_211239_zpsc8252c0c.jpg

I also started trimming it with gold thread, but then realized it was past 10 o'clock in the evening already and had to stop, as my neighbours wouldn't appreciate my DIY-Midnight-Marathon :D

More to come!

[Mermaid Ellowyn]

How interesting so far! I love what it's looking like.

[Alcyone]

I really like the ankle fins! they look so adorable!!

[Nicky-Katz]

I hope I'll be able to finish the fluke tomorrow :) And finally start fitting :P

[Nicky-Katz]

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Been busy busy busy. I hope to make some stuff on weekend.
Have too much creative energy wanting to burst out, but have to learn a lot.

[Mermaid Saphira]

I love the look of the gold paint against the black fabric! :D

[Nicky-Katz]

Namaste!

Sorry for the absence of updates on my tail: I've been busy with my studies (and also kept making my tail). I had a minor setback on it, since I needed someone's help on fitting and ended up doing it myself yesterday. I was lucky to get it perfectly from the first time. I'd normally put on my test garment (if making something unconventional) and let someone stick needles into it to make it fit perfectly. But what the heck...

So yesterday I've also altered the main pattern: since I'm using a stretch fabric, I made my pattern to fit 70% of my actual measurements, but kept the length an 100%. I've also lowered my waistline by 10 cm. And now I'm going to lay the pattern on my main fabric, cut it out, then sew and paint the fluke.

Huwiee!

Photo spamming is coming!

[Nicky-Katz]

By the way. Would anyone be interested in a pattern-construction and sewing stretch fabric How-To?

[mermaid_lover]

Hi, the colours look beautiful on the black :o I look foreward to see how it turns out :D. And if I may ask.... Could you also use acrylic paint to paint your tail?

I would also love a tutorial of the measurments and how to make the pattern :D
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[Mermaid Jaffa]

Hi, the colours look beautiful on the black :o I look foreward to see how it turns out :D. And if I may ask.... Could you also use acrylic paint to paint your tail?

I would also love a tutorial of the measurments and how to make the pattern :D
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Acrylic paint isn't flexible when dry. It will crack and may rip the fabric.

You don't need measurements, just lie down on a big piece of paper and get someone to trace you from your hips/waist to feet and monofin.

After tracing, you can design your own fluke from it, assuming you left enough fabric at that end.

Easy peasy, sew the two sides and you're done.

[JessieMermaid]

If you are going to paint your tail use lumiere by jacquard. Little Orca has done all of her tails with it and they are holding up nicely. I also plan to use them for mine. Orca had a thread around here that has all the stuff you'll need to research the paints.

[mermaid_lover]

Thank you mers for all the help :D
, I am going to check this out immediatly ;)
So that i can finally begin at my own tail ( because i wasn't sure about the measuring part, but that problem is fixed ;) )

[Nicky-Katz]

Acrylic paint isn't flexible when dry. It will crack and may rip the fabric.

I'm using textile paint that needs to be heat set. It is flexible and feels rubbery. It was pretty difficult to find paint that also is visible on black (most of them are only for light fabric).


You don't need measurements, just lie down on a big piece of paper and get someone to trace you from your hips/waist to feet and monofin.

After tracing, you can design your own fluke from it, assuming you left enough fabric at that end.

Easy peasy, sew the two sides and you're done.

Well... yeah. If you're going for the easy way. What I am aming for is the pattern that can also be used for a neoprene tail.
When making front and back tail parts from the same pattern there is no way the tail will fit properly. E.g. the back part should be longer if you want to avoid flashing your booty, the front side will wrinkle on the waist if made from the same pattern. There's also a side seam issue: the seams go way to far on the back, making a lot of wrinkles. And so on.
I don't want to say that an easy way is in any way bad or anything... I chose the method that is used to make clothes.


Mermaid Lover, thank you so much! I'll post a How-To on my way to make a tail soon. It's not harder to sew this way, but it does take a bit more time, since you'll need a bit of help and you'll also need to make a tail prototype :D

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Yes yes. I stand corrected. I meant if she was making a fabric tail.

But neoprene stretches doesn't it? So even if you laid on the paper, you could add a couple of centimeters on each side, after measuring how much more you'd need.

I don't know... I managed to find a local wetsuit company to make me a tail, so I'll have do proper measurements.

[mermaid_lover]

I would rather have a little bit more work in the beginning than that I need to take it in when it is finished...

Somethimes I sew my own pants, because they don't have it in my size. But my mother always draws the patterns, so maybe if I learn how to draw a mermaid tail pattern I might can get started on my pants :o

Too bad that mermaids don't use pants :p



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[Nicky-Katz]

Mermaid Lover,

than your mother can help you! It's the same as taking measurements for an extreme shallow skirt. Also, same construction with a pattern. Just add a fluke and then you'll have it :D

[Miyu]

I know I'm reviving this old thread, but I'm also interested in the details of making the front/back pieces in the proper proportions...