Starting a sequin tail!

[Mermaid Nyla]

Because I'm only going to do accents, i'm going to leave the fluke painted with accents down the side. But mostly sequins covering the top.
I didn't know you could get bags that big!? I'll have to check that out...
I wouldove to see pictures of your tail when you get started!

[Mermaid Nyla]

the rubber vinyl came in the mail today! and the thickness is perfect! i wish the ribs could have been thicker but it will still look nice and flowy in the water.


so immediately i began cutting the pattern i need for the end of my tail and down the back of my legs. unfortunately i didn't quite think through the measurement when i ordered it, so i have to end up cutting the fluke part in half along with the section down my legs.
this piece i had to trace in halfs...if that made sense...


here is the fluke with the vinyl


there are actually going to be two layers of vinyl of top of each other to make it thicker at both the fluke and my legs. it will also help to hide the zipper and the seem going down the back of my legs.
i want to be able to take the monofin out of the tail so I can clean it, and be able to make other tails without buying another monofin. so i might put a zipper along the bottom of my fluke, or velcro. still trying to figure that part out.

so yeah! neoprene should be here any time! I'm taking it with me to utah next weekend to have my grandma help me cut and sew everything in place! then comes the paint and sewing of the sequins!
the vinyl tends to fold, but that'll go away.
i added an inch to the bottom of every shape i cut out so i could sew it into the neoprene without loosing any length to my actual pattern. you can see an example of this in the third picture from the top.

[Mermaid Sirena]

That is pretty spiffy looking, I can't recall have you posted a direct link to where you bought it from? If so ignore me, if not I would suggest doing so if your willing to share

[Mermaasai]

http://www.fabricsworldusa.com/site/....php?cat_id=24 Check it ouuuuuuuuut!

[Mermaid Lulu]

How are you planning on attaching the sequins? Sewing or Gluing? and if gluing what type of glue? Also what tool did you use to cut your monofin?

[Mermaid Nyla]

sirens: here is the site! there are two different sizes you can choose to fit your liking. i chose the 20" x 4' and that worked pretty well. sorry i didn't post it earlier.
http://www.menards.com/main/search.h...goryHierarchy=

lulu: I'm going to sew on my beads. i have heard from a lot of people including hannah fraser that sewing works the best because your sequins will stay on longer, so you won't have to replace ones that fall off quite as often. but that doesn't mean you can't glue them on still. I'm just not quite sure what kind of glue you would use...

i used my black and decker variable speed jigsaw. and i used the small blade for precision. they look like this:
http://www.mcguckin.com/images/6866303.jpg

hope that helps!

[Mermaid Nyla]

GOOD NEWS! i got my neoprene today! and just in time cuz I'm leave for utah in almost 2 days! now i just need to get the zipper to go down the back of the tail, and velcro so i will be able to take the mono fin out and clean it so it doesn't rot. gotta find all this stuff in 2 days! ahhhh!
anyways, the neoprene looks absolutely perfect! i got a 3mm thick sheet (54"x81") of neoprene that is covered on one side be a protective blue fabric (which will help the paint stay the vibrant colors i need) and black on the inside, that way the neoprene itself won't uncomfortably rub on me. I'm so happy this is working!
i don't want to take it out of its packaging simply because I'm taking it will me on a long trip to utah and i don't want it to get damaged. this means no pictures for right now...

lately I've also been trying to figure out how I'm going to paint this thing.... in my very first post i posted this sketch of my tail....

i don't really want to paint each scale an individual color... so i came up with a plan...
I'm thinking of using create paint to carefully spray paint my tail the colors i want. because it will be a variety of different shades of green and blue, i think spray painting will be my best option. then i will go over the entire tail and just paint the outlines of each scale with white create paint. I'm thinking of sparkly white... :P

if you have any hints for painting, that would be fabulous!

[Mermaid Nyla]

http://www.fabricsworldusa.com/site/....php?cat_id=24 Check it ouuuuuuuuut!

THIS IS AMAZING!!!! i just might have to make another tail using some of this stuff... there is even fabric that looks like fish scales!!!

[Mermaasai]

I knooowwwww I immediately thought of this thread when I saw it, i hope you do something with it, it would be epic ^.^

[Mermaid Nyla]

I knooowwwww I immediately thought of this thread when I saw it, i hope you do something with it, it would be epic ^.^

yeah, my whole jaw pretty much fell off when the page finished loading. i am soooo glad you showed me this link! when i save up more money, i am definitely making a tail with this fabric. i just need to know how thin it is... 1mm 2mm etc

[ShyMer]

Oh hey, I didn't notice before, but does anyone think that the way the monofin is cut could become a problem? I remember people saying when modifying a monofin, you don't want to have sharp corners at the center like that, that it could cause it to break. Also, it worries me how one of the cuts extends into the fin some. Does anyone know about this?

If it isn't going to be a problem, just ignore me. I just want to catch it before something unfixable happens :O

[Spindrift]

Oh hey, I didn't notice before, but does anyone think that the way the monofin is cut could become a problem? I remember people saying when modifying a monofin, you don't want to have sharp corners at the center like that, that it could cause it to break. Also, it worries me how one of the cuts extends into the fin some. Does anyone know about this?

If it isn't going to be a problem, just ignore me. I just want to catch it before something unfixable happens :O

You are correct. A sharp cut in the center will split further once it's under the stress of moving through water. Silicone won't fix it:

[Spindrift]

Rounding the cut will fix it though.

[MafaldaMermaid]

Amazing... ;O
1 quick question! Do you glue the rubber vinyl in the monofin?

[Mermaid Nyla]

You are correct. A sharp cut in the center will split further once it's under the stress of moving through water. Silicone won't fix it:

okay thank you for bringing this up! i was really freaked out when i screwed up the cut, and I'm glad you said something.
so i took your advice to round it out and my mom thankfully found her dremel. so i was able to round it out, but is this enough?

[Mermaid Nyla]

Mafalda:
I'm just going to sew the vinyl into the neoprene, because I'm going to want to take the mono fin out to clean it. maybe if i were to glue the neoprene to the monofin then i would also glue the vinyl. but in this case I'm not.

[MafaldaMermaid]

Alright!
Thank you for your reply!

[Spindrift]

okay thank you for bringing this up! i was really freaked out when i screwed up the cut, and I'm glad you said something.
so i took your advice to round it out and my mom thankfully found her dremel. so i was able to round it out, but is this enough?

I would personally make it a little shallower, but it's hard to tell without seeing it in person. If something happens to it, it's not a terribly big deal - you could fix it with materials that cost about $30.

[Mermaid Nyla]

Yeah I can do shallower. It's all getting covered by neoprene anyway right? Thanks do much for the help. I'm glad you guys caught that before anything bad happened.

[Mermaid Nyla]

okay! just got back from utah and sewing the tail went perfectly!
I'm going a little picture happy here so be ready...

front view

back view

close up of the back fin

back fin unzipped. sorry i look really bored in this picture...i was just really tired when i took it. :P

inside view of the fluke. i attached velcro to the edge on the inside so i can take the monofin out when i need to clean it.

i cut the vinyl on the fluke, sides and back. here is a close up of what it looks like...

if anyone has any questions how we put in the zipper and the vinyl along the back or the velcro on the fluke, feel free to ask. I'm just being lazy right now and don't really want to type anymore if no ones wondering
so yeah! everything turned out perfectly! i made a made it a little to tight around my ankles, but the neoprene is stretchy so its not that bad. plus there's not as many wrinkles around the ankles when i put it on!