materiels

[Celaeno]

I'm actually making a tail out of this same fabric, but in a different colorway. I've made a few things from this kind of sequin fabric, and it takes patience, the right needle/thread/stitch length because of the stretchy mesh base. I'm going to tackle this one after I get back from Dragon Con in September. Fear not, it can be done, and I'll share my progress.

Even though it will only stretch length-wise as a tail, I have a few tricks up my seamstress sleeves that will make it work. I'll be mounting it onto a metallic spandex or even a neoprene base with some hand stitching. When I do use the machine, I will need to remove the sequins from the seam allowances to sew them together. Then I'll reinforce and reapply sequins in any areas along the seams that are missing them.
It may seem like a ton of work, but it's still less than applying all the sequins one-by-one, and I consider it a sewing challenge
I may even want to try my hand at making a silicone fluke, dorsal and other fins for this one, but we'll see how the tail body comes together first.
Here's a photo of my fabric just wrapped around my legs for the photo (and it shows slightly darker here than it actually is):

Wow, that's lovely! How well does sequin fabric like that hold up in the water?

[Mermaid Freyja]

Wow, that's lovely! How well does sequin fabric like that hold up in the water?

Not bad, but if your swimming in a pool with super high chlorine levels, it can dull the finish on coated sequins similar to the above.
Luckily the pool I frequent has a lower chlorine level, and I haven't had any of my metallic fabrics dull after many swims.
Ocean swimming may dull sequins over time. A sequin bathing suit I had once, ended up dulled due to the sun and sand more than the salt water alone.