materiels

[Mermaid Bella]

oh, i didnt see that thread, there you go, now i have seen an ausmer who made their own

[Elle]

I've actually decided to use some string bags.... they've got a good shape, stretch and they hold up to a lot of abuse

[Ilyena]

Oh nice, didn't think of that

[Elle]

I was in my local spotlight and they had this wonderful sequined material. And it was tightly pack sequins. I reckon it would've cost around $50 - $70 a metre. But I had to share.

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[OceanWhisper]

[Mermaid Jaffa]

I get my lycra from here. https://www.theremnantwarehouse.com.au/

They've mostly got florals, but recently added plain lycra and some new prints. And thicker quality than Spotlight or Lincraft.

[Ilyena]

I saw that sequin fabric the other day.....I won't lie, I spent a few minutes playing with it, flipping it from colourful to black :P

[Elle]

I saw that sequin fabric the other day.....I won't lie, I spent a few minutes playing with it, flipping it from colourful to black :P

I did the same thing. For about 5 minutes.

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[PearlieMae]

I love that fabric! It's about $50 a yard here in the states, too.

If I can find it cheaper, I will be happy to pick some up and ship it! I'll wrap it up like a gift, so it doesn't look like a commercial enterprise, you just pay the actual cost plus shipping. So if you see fabric online from the US (not just this fabric, any fabric) let me know and I'll arrange it.

You just have to promise I can swim with you one day if I can get to Australia!

[Mermaid Galene]

Wow, that fabric is mermazing!

[Ilyena]

I think I remember the price being about $60 ($59.95)/m.

I don't think we'd need to promise Pearlie, it's a given ^_^

[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

I have some of that fabric which will eventually be made into a tail and yes it is $60 a meter. But I waited until they had 50% off all fabric to buy some! I also use net bags for netting! The only other net I have ever found was in an op shop!

[OceanWhisper]

I got some fishing net from BCF -boating,camping, fishing- (not the best, and not exactly what I had in mind, but it works for now) It came as a landing net, and I just cut it into pieces I wanted. It's much more plastic than I would like though. I'd like to get some actual 'string' netting off eBay eventually. you could look on there perhaps?

[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

I'm looking for something quite specific. Ebay has a fair bit but all the holes are too big!

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Prawn netting? Its much softer and lighter than landing nets. Or you could always make your own with heavy weight fishing line.

[PearlieMae]

Nylon cord makes nice netting and there are lots of how-to videos. I't pretty easy, but time consuming.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1Roll-100Yar...-/390494487007

[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

It's funny you say that pearlie because I have actually been making some net out of cotton twine this week! Took me forever to make the tiniest bit!

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[MermaidAine]

My bestie is making her tail out of that sequin fabric. She got the green/purple and the gold/silver. It's gorgeous. Only problem is its a two way stretch and the stretch is long ways and it breaks needles like crazy!


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[Mermaid Freyja]

My bestie is making her tail out of that sequin fabric. She got the green/purple and the gold/silver. It's gorgeous. Only problem is its a two way stretch and the stretch is long ways and it breaks needles like crazy!

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):

[PearlieMae]

I found that if you run the fabric so it stretches width-wise around your body, then add a 4 to 6" panel down the center back with a piece of the same fabric turned 90˚, so it stretches lengthwise, you can use any 2-way stretch fabric. The bonus to that is that there are no side seams! (Basically, the seams are 3/4 the way around.) I did this with some pretty 2-way Lurex I had.

There might be some inconsistencies with the nap of the fabric, but some creative embellishing can hide those issues.