Closing the fluke of a fabric tail

[mermaidopal]

Hi all,
I received my first fabric tail recently from Lori of OnceUponAMermaid (Etsy). She's been wonderful to work with. My question pertains to the fluke. She left an opening in the bottom of the fluke, presumably for being able to walk in your tail if you didn't have the monofin in it. However, with the open fluke you can see my bright yellow mono fin peeking out of the blue fabric- yikes! I want to close the fluke so that the monofin can't peek out. Should I sew it? Would industrial strength Velcro work? My concerns are that 1) if I sew it, I might not be able to remove the monofin anymore- I haven't been able to insert the monofin from the waist end, only from the bottom. I haven't pushed it because the ankle area is narrow and I'm afraid of popping a seam. I use the mono fin by itself for swim training time to time so I would rather be able to take it in and out of the tail as I please. 2) If I use velcro, will kids be able to pull it apart? I'd rather not have anyone peeking inside the fluke lest I break the illusion of being "real."
Thank you for your input!
-Mermaid Opal

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Yellow monofin is one of the Finis ones? You can roll the monofin up to put it inside the tail.

[Mermaid Galene]

I have one of Lori's tails and the yellow Finis monofin. The open fluke area is for the purpose of taking the monofin in and out. To cover the yellow edge, I sewed a few extra inches of finlike fabric onto the bottom of the fluke. Then I sewed a couple of large nylon snaps onto that fabric. I insert my monofin, snap the fluke ends shut, and I'm good to go!

[mermaidopal]

Mermaid Jaffa- that's what I tried doing, but the mono fin is large enough that I don't think it will make it through the waist end of the tail. I can fold it in half, but so far it's too large to fit through the narrow ankle portion of the tail.
Mermaid Galene- that's very helpful advice, thank you! I'll have to look and see if adding fabric will still fit the design of the tail that I wanted. If not, I think the nylon snaps is a great idea. (I was wondering if they would work!) How large are your snaps and can you see the stitching on the outside of your fluke?

[Mermaid Galene]

I was able to find 1/2" snaps on Amazon, and they are quite reliable in the water. I sewed them on with regular thread in a color matching my extension. I don't get too worried about whether stitching is visible. Noone is likely to notice those details except the mermaid herself! But if you're concerned about that, you can use transparent thread or fishing line to sew on the snaps.

[mermaidlover237]

You could also add a train yo the end of your tail to make it cover the yellow and it will look cool underwater

Ellie

[mermaidopal]

Thanks Mermaidlover. I had thought about that but I don't think it would work with my fluke style. I think the snaps are the best bet. Thanks for your recommendation!

[Mermaid Wesley]

You could do a zipper too


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