Abalone Shells?

[Nyx]

Hey Mers! I'm thinking if making a shell bra out of polished abalone, but I've been having a hard time finding good ones.
Does anyone know where to buy them?? Specifically shells that are a bit darker and have more green/purple mixed in (so far I've only seen white ish pink ones).

EDIT: Oops I JUST saw the accessory post Iona made, please ignore this post.

[Ashton]

Here is a cool site: http://www.seashellsupply.com/abalone/

[Nyx]

Thank you!!

[lynsea]

These shells are relatively cheap. Found a whole bunch of sites where they are $12-25. Seems like a much more cost efficient way to make a top then spending $200+ so someone can make it for you.

http://www.shells-of-aquarius.com/abalone-shells.html
http://deltonaseashells.com/abalone--shells--haliotidae-
http://www.atlanticcoralenterprise.com/productcart/pc/viewCategories.asp?pageStyle=h&ProdSort=0&page=8&idCategory=359&viewAll=yes

[MerEmma]

It's definitely more wallet efficient but also bare in mind that shell tops (when you include greenery and the like) are very time consuming.

[Winged Mermaid]

I still ended up spending $140 in materials on my abalone top. And I did TONS of hand detailing, like trimming the netting for the pattern then hand sewing it all on accounting for stretch in the bands and for the straps, taking and trimming the greenery and gluing it carefully into bunches before gluing it on the top so it had a certain look to it, hand knotting fishing line dozens of times to secure the "floating" pearls, and hand sewing on all the details (pearls, greenery, extra netting for extra coverage) on the straps, because gluing stuff on straps does not hold up, ect. Unless you wanna slap stuff on and call it done, it's very time consuming and intricate work. For $200-$250 that's a deal for all that labor IMO. Mermaids are always trying to make and sell for the least they can, because we KNOW mermaids are broke. Truth be told if a top like that was sold in a store it would probably be $400-$500

[Aziara]

I'm with you on that Iona! I'm working on one now, and it is taking me forever to get all the greenery sewn on. Any advice for sewing greenery onto the back strap and retaining the stretch? Seems like the more I put on, the stiffer it gets.

[Ariel-Starfish]

Thanks for putting it up! I was planning on making one to! Lol The new Mer-trend? :p

[Winged Mermaid]

You just have to try to account for the stretch with everything you put on the band. Otherwise it will keep it from stretching. This means you need to sew things so when it's laying flat it drapes or puffs outwards, but when the band stretches it's flush and lays right.

[Aziara]

You just have to try to account for the stretch with everything you put on the band. Otherwise it will keep it from stretching. This means you need to sew things so when it's laying flat it drapes or puffs outwards, but when the band stretches it's flush and lays right.

Thank you, that makes sense. I'll try that.