New wannabe mermaid!

[leeloo]

Hi everyone, I am new to this community and looking to become a mermaid! I've been trying to find the best mermaid tail for the money and have been having a hard time. I was thinking about buying a realistic tail from Mertailor but I've seen so many different opinions on these tails I'm wondering if they are worth it. BUT I really like the look of the tails and feel they look so much more realistic than fabric tails. I would LOVE a silicone tail, but cannot afford one and even if I had the money I'm not sure I can justify spending $2000 plus on a tail when I could be using that money to pay off my car or something like that. Anyways, if anyone has any suggestions or makes tails themselves I'd greatly appreciate any info! Thanks!

[ShyMer]

Hello Leeloo!

You might want to think about making yourself or buying a fabric tail for now. The magictail ones have a nice pattern on them.
I bought a monofin first to see if I could even swim with my feet bound together and it's really cool. I love my rapid.
I don't really have any experience sewing but it wasn't too hard to make a spandex tail after that. There's multiple helpful tutorials out there. If you buy four way spandex instead of two way you don't have to measure as much either (which I wish I had known starting out). You just pin it around yourself and sew it.

I love my fabric tail and the way it moves but I am planning on making myself a latex tail eventually. I'm just going to take my time with my research so I can be sure it's the tail I really want.

Good luck getting started! Do you have any color preference or patterns you like? Where are you from?

[Odette]

LOTS of great topics on this at this forum. you will save money,have fun, and know how to fix any problems you get. so glad you came here =)

[leeloo]

Thank you guys! And thank you ShyMer for the four way spandex tip. I was trying to make a tail for Halloween and kind of messed it up when attempting to put in a zipper. I think I'll just forget the zipper next time! Do you know if any stores like Jo-Ann Fabrics sell the four way spandex? That's where I bought materials before. Oh and I live in Orange county.

[SweeteSiren]

I found a store online called Spandex World. JoAnn's has a very limited line of swim fabrics, so online warehouse stores work better. This place also let me pick about 15 fabrics I liked & sent me swatches free of charge so I could see & feel them before I spent $10 a yard on them. Also, I learned to avoid the glittery fabrics - they look pretty, but the glitter rubs off after a while & you get discolored spots around the fins.