Results 1 to 18 of 18

Thread: OMG IT'S HAPPENING I AM MAKING A TAIL - A Humble Thread

  1. #1

    OMG IT'S HAPPENING I AM MAKING A TAIL - A Humble Thread

    DISCLAIMER: I will make references to Finfolk Productions (Tailmaker), Courtney Mermaid (Mermaid Youtube Creator), and PassionfruitDIY (Mermaid Youtube Creator), and potentially a few other creators throughout the course of this thread. I am in no way trying to replicate their designs or trying to steal their intellectual property. I want to make sure they are properly credited for their artwork. I am a newer mermaid so if there is anything that looks similar, I want people to let me know so I can address it properly.

    TLDR:
    ~ I’m Maura. Finding my mersona was cool. Basically, if you took Morticia Addams and gave her a slightly bubblier personality and made her a greek goddess that is the vibe I am going for.
    ~ The goal for this tail is to be a neoprene fabric tail with individual scales made of resin. The color of this tail will be black with accented silvers. This tail is being made for the Mahina Monofin. See towards the end of the post.

    NOTES MOVING FORWARD: My goal for this forum is to make sure I can keep it as organized as possible. This in no way deals with the responses to this forum post. I just want to make sure if someone wants to find something like a materials list or how I did a specific step, that they can find it all in one of the posts I make. Every post will have a post theme.
    If anyone has any questions about anything I am doing you are more than free to DM me here or on Instagram at mermaid_eos, post a question in the forum or email my gmail at the.mermaid.eos@gmail.com .

    POST THEME: Background and Tail Design

    Hello everyone!

    My name is Maura Kaiser (Also known as Mermaid Eos.) I am a mermaid from North Carolina. I currently attend North Carolina State University. I am studying Communication with a focus in Media. I have been a mermaid since June or July of this year. My first interaction with mermaids in general was seeing mermaid tails on Wish. (I am so glad I didn’t buy any of those!) it lead me in a community I didn’t even know existed.
    When I started my mermaiding journey, I did some research and from then on, I knew I wanted the Mahina monofin. The biggest problem in my eyes with the Mahina monofin is the tail skin. Now more than ever there is a wide variety for this monofin and they are all really beautiful designs. However, every design I came across I realized I was settling with some aspect of the design. I wouldn’t like little things and I always am so indecisive. I wanted my first tail to be something I was really proud of.

    More than that, I was struggling to find the mersona I wanted for myself. I didn’t want to be a siren exactly, but I didn’t want to be as super-duper bubbly princess mermaid either. I went back and forth whether I should pay so much money for settling and the answer to me was no. I wanted to fight for the first tail, even if it wasn’t 100% perfect. I didn’t want to go that much further above my skill level and get a silicone. But I also was realizing I wasn’t the biggest fan of spandex fabric. Not that there is anything functionally wrong with spandex fabric, it just wasn’t the magical tail I wanted. I do know that since I am technically a beginner mermaid, I should have gone with a thinner tailskin to start with. But I decided if I were willing to put in the work to make the tail, I would put the work in to swim in it. (I know this logic is low key flawed but that is my story and I am sticking with it XD)

    The result was I decided that maybe I should digitally create my own tail out of neoprene. I bought Courtney Mermaid’s book on digitally creating a mermaid tail. I highly recommend it if you are interested! It really does go into everything. Linked here: https://shopvancouvermermaid.com/col...id-tails-ebook

    While designing my tail one of the serious problems became apparent to me. My mersona didn’t seem to fit. At the time I was calling myself Mermaid Maura Manatee. While I based it off my name and one of my favorite animals ever, it just wasn’t me. It was too long and cumbersome. Mermaid Maura was already professionally working with that name, so I did not want to cause confusion. After designing again and again trial and error style I scrapped it all together. After some research I finally found a name that I LOVE, which was Mermaid Eos. (I made sure Mermaid Eos was an original name and basically claimed it on all the platforms I use.)

    The next problem I was having was I had trouble picturing Mermaid Eos. Eos is the greek goddess of the dawn. From that I thought I wanted traditional dawn colors. Nope, after some trial and error I finally concluded that dawn colors were not for me. I just thought of colors I like on me and I thought of black. I looked up black mermaid tails on pinterest and I was sold. Then from there everything fell into place. I would have this darker romantic vibe that let some of my personality shine through that lens.

    After this big mersona discovery, I went to work digitally designing the tail. While it was successful it wasn’t quite what I wanted. Flash Forward to Finfolk’s release of their mythic line with Kariel. I had heard about Mythic tails, but I never realized they weren’t plastic scales. As soon as I heard they were resin I was so happy! My dad had worked with resin before so I thought he could help me. I decided that would be what I do is just make my own resin scales. I would have bought the scales from Finfolk but I wanted to really be proud of myself in making all the scales.
    And that’s how I ended up here.

    I drew a design. As a note I am not an artist so please forgive me.

    Name:  IMage USE.jpg
Views: 639
Size:  68.6 KB

    This is how its all going to go down. (Ideally) :

    1. Mold scales with silicone putty.
    2. Make all the resin scales I am going to need.
    3. Make the fabric body.
    4. Paint the fluke with screen printing ink.
    5. Sew Scales on by hand.
    6. Brag about my gorgeous tail!


    I am currently on step 2. The first quick post I'll make is a material list and then after that I should be posting step by step and with updates.

    WHEW. That was a long one. I hope not TOO long. I am so excited, and I will begin typing my next post…right as you are probably reading this. Unless of course you are seeing my post in the future! In which case just scroll down.
    With love,
    Mermaid Eos.

    Name:  Spongebob meme for post.png
Views: 666
Size:  509.5 KB

  2. #2
    DISCLAIMER: I am not endorsed by any of these brands or products. Safety is so important so when using these products, do what you think will ensure your safety.

    TLDR:
    ~ Basically, this is a bunch of stuff I used.

    POST THEME: Materials List

    STUFF I HAD:

    ~ Flour
    ~ Salt
    ~ Water
    ~ Nitrile Gloves
    ~ N95 Mask
    ~ Paint Brush
    ~ Tin Foil
    ~ Pan
    ~ Sewing Needles
    ~ Masking Tape

    STUFF I BOUGHT:

    Amazon:
    1 Kit: Mold Putty - $20.76 with taxes included.
    2 Kits: Resin - $53.49 with taxes included.*
    1 Container: Mica - $10.69 with taxes included.
    1 Container: Screen Printing Ink - $12.44 with taxes included.

    Joann Fabrics:
    2 Yards: Neoprene Fabric - $29.94 with taxes included but not shipping.
    2 Spools: Polyester Thread - $4.43 with taxes included but not shipping.
    1 Invisible Zipper- $2.99 with taxes included but not shipping.
    Shipping: $7.99


    Grand Total of Bought Materials: $142.73

    NOTE: Prices may vary when you make your purchase. I also used joann's coupons as well so just keep this in mind.

    * I got a free kit of resin because my resin was slightly leaking but it did not actually hurt the resin. It was just a little messy when it arrived, and it cured fine.

    Updates:

    9/21/2020 - Added Tin Foil And Pan to already had list.
    10/5/2020 - Added Sewing Needles and Masking Tape to my already had list.
    Last edited by Mermaid_Eos; 10-05-2020 at 03:48 PM.

  3. #3
    I like seeing new tail designs. It'll be a lot of interesting reading for the rest of us as you post updates.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by K Swim View Post
    I like seeing new tail designs. It'll be a lot of interesting reading for the rest of us as you post updates.
    Oh my Gosh I am so excited to post updates

  5. #5
    DISCLAIMER: I will make references to Finfolk Productions (Tailmaker), Courtney Mermaid (Mermaid Youtube Creator), and PassionfruitDIY (Mermaid Youtube Creator), and potentially a few other creators throughout the course of this thread. I am in no way trying to replicate their designs or trying to steal their intellectual property. I want to make sure they are properly credited for their artwork. I am a newer mermaid so if there is anything that looks similar, I want people to let me know so I can address it properly. I am also not the best sewer so if something looks off I do apologize! I am doing my best!


    TLDR: So I decided to go out of order and sew my tail base first. I took a bunch of printer paper, traced out my body, cut two pieces of neoprene with an quarter inch seam allowance. I go into why I put a seam allowance below. I started by taping my fabric to my monofin on one side, then I used a ladder stitch to hand sew it all together leaving some drainage holes. Then I flipped the monofin inside out and sewed the edges of the drainage holes rolled under which has a Finfolk Fabric Tail effect.

    POST THEME: Sewing my Fabric Base: Part 1

    Background: So if you look at my first post, it says I am currently on step two. I am still doing step two but I also want to make sure that steps are all together by parts, and I have A LOT to say about working with Epoxy that I want to give those posts due diligence. In casting my own scales I made several scrap batches that turned out really unattractive so I had to start that process over. I will be sharing that with you all. In the meantime I had the Neoprene that I took with me on vacation that I was going to make my tail out of and so I decided to go ahead and have my fabric base made so that way in the event I wanted to sew on scales as they came out of the batches I would be able to do so to save myself some time down the road.

    Prep Work: To do my prepwork I taped paper together with masking tape and had my mertender follow Courtney Mermaid's video exactly. Linked here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dUwV8cx5xA . (See Picture 1) Once I did that I cut out the guideline I made and my fabric with an quarter of an inch of seam allowance.(Except for the monfin, I added 2-3 inches but as you will later see I didn't need to.) I did this because I decided to do a ladder stitch. Ladder stitches are easier to do if you roll the fabric over on itself and create a bend and then sew the bends together. (See Picture 2+3) Since you can't pin neoprene without causing holes I decided to tape my fabric to my monofin so I could just roll one side down with my hands and hold it as I was sewing. (See Picture 4) I also used masking tape to secure my design to my fabric as well.

    Picture 1:
    Name:  Outline.jpg
Views: 574
Size:  7.6 KB
    Picture 2:
    Name:  Outline and fabric.jpg
Views: 1880
Size:  84.8 KB
    Picture 3:
    Name:  Fabric.jpg
Views: 1053
Size:  139.4 KB
    Picture 4:

    Name:  Tape to Monofin.jpg
Views: 600
Size:  10.3 KB


    Sewing: Once I did all the prep work I was ready to sew it by hand and like I said before I just ladder stitched it all the way around leaving some drainage holes. (See Picture 5) I also sewed the drainage holes flaps closed by turning it inside out and ladder stitching those sides together without fully going through the neoprene. I don't have any pictures of that yet but I will do my best to take some!

    Picture 5:
    Name:  Fin Side.jpg
Views: 499
Size:  56.6 KB

  6. #6
    So far so good.

  7. #7
    it does look great!!! continue and keep on posting the updates.. You're almost there

  8. #8
    Junior Member Pod of Oceania
    Join Date
    Sep 2020
    Location
    Victoria Australia
    Posts
    18
    It looks really good, I love your mahina too.

  9. #9
    Thank you all so so much!!!

    I am currently halted in my production because my boyfriend has my Mahina and so I am waiting for him to get back so I can see the rest and then get the scales on!

  10. #10
    Senior Member TheChimera's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    281
    Quote Originally Posted by Mermaid_Eos View Post
    Thank you all so so much!!!

    I am currently halted in my production because my boyfriend has my Mahina and so I am waiting for him to get back so I can see the rest and then get the scales on!
    Cannot WAIT to see how it turns out!! Sqeeee!!!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  11. #11
    Hi everyone! Quick update!

    I got my Mahina back so you can expect updates very very soon!

  12. #12
    Senior Member Pod of Oceania Mermaid Jaffa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Silverwater, NSW Australia
    Posts
    4,806
    Add Mermaid Jaffa on Facebook
    Visit Mermaid Jaffa's Youtube Channel
    Yay!
    Formerly known as ireneho

  13. #13
    Hello everyone
    Today is going to be an extremely casual update. I am working on the tail! I apologize in advance for the dog due. No matter how hard I try it’s always there

    I finished hand sewing my drain holes and there will probably be touch ups for these once I get the zipper

    One of the drain holes is pretty bad, but otherwise it is going well! This whole tail has been sewn by hand and I am pretty proud of it so far, assuming I will modify a bit.

  14. #14
    Also I don’t know why Dog Fur corrected to Dog Due but here we are

  15. #15
    Senior Member TheChimera's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    281
    Very cool, I started on a new tail recently so I share in your excitement Is that the tell-tail shape of a Mahina?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by TheChimera View Post
    Very cool, I started on a new tail recently so I share in your excitement Is that the tell-tail shape of a Mahina?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Yes! She is my dear baby

  17. #17
    Hey Merfriends!

    This is another casual update but without photos. I am currently sewing the tail rapid fire speed so I can do a photo shoot sometime next week so I am hoping to have the entire body of the tail sewn and the fluke painted! I am going to be posting a serious update as soon as I am finished with this process so I can update you all on how it’s going and then once again going into scale construction!

  18. #18
    Can't wait. I always like seeing new tails.

    Sent from my SM-N950U using MerNetwork mobile app

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •