Mermaid Tail Tutorial: By: sewingmel You will need:

Mermaid Tail Tutorial:
By: sewingmel
You will need:
-tail fabric (I used 1.25 yards of mermaid costume foil for my tall 5-year-old)
-1- 1 ¼” elastic ( I used soft boxer elastic)
-¼” elastic, about 1 yard
-your child’s measurements
 Waist
_______
 Hip
_______
 Waist to knee
_______
 Knee to floor
_______
This pattern is made up of 3 rectangles and two sizes of elastic.
Step 1: Determine how much fabric you will need to cut for your main
rectangle.
Length:
Take your child’s waist to knee measurement (above), and add ¼” for the
bottom seam and add 1 ¼” for the waistband.
Waist to knee ______________ + 1 ½” = ______________ length of main
Width:
My fabric is 43” wide, and I like to have at least 10” ease for this skirt. As
long as your child is 33” around or less, you will only need one full-width
panel. Your main fabric rectangle will be the full-width of your fabric by
length of main.
**If your child is wider around than 33 inches, add 12” to your child’s hip
measurement and divide that number by two. Cut two rectangles the length
of main by your new width. Seam rectangles together on one side only
with a ¼” seam.
You will now have a 2-paneled rectangle.
Step 2: You will need two ruffle rectangles. They will be full-width by your
knee to floor measurement (see above). If this is for a toddler, I would make
the ruffle at least an inch shorter. My 5-year-old insisted that her tail hit the
floor, but I would have made a shorter tail for a younger child. Keep in mind
that it will also be shorter when your kid wears shoes in case this is a
Halloween costume. For a larger child, you will need 3-4 ruffle panels.
Step 3: If you have not already done so, cut your main and ruffle rectangles
out of your fabric. I used a rotary blade, pattern weights, and an acrylic ruler.
For some reason, I took my weights off my fabric for the picture.
Step 4: With right sides together, line up two sides of RUFFLE fabric. If
you have more than 2 ruffle panels, seam them together making one long
rectangle.
Step 5: To hold the fabric together, I use washable school glue. You do not
want to stick pins in this fabric because the holes are permanent. Instead, use
glue or binder clips. Make sure to sew your seam immediately after gluing it.
This glue doesn’t hold fabric overnight. Lesson learned! 
Step 6: Sew one side of the ruffle together. I tried to do this on my sewing
machine, but it kept skipping stitches. I ended up having to sew this tail all
on my serger. If you have a newer sewing machine, you should be fine to
sew it on your sewing machine.
**Always test new fabric on your machine with a scrap of that fabric.
Step 7: Being VERY careful, iron the seam flat. Test iron a scrap of fabric
if you are unsure. You must use a low setting, and you must use a pressing
cloth. This stuff melts, and it will melt to your iron.
Step 8: Gather the top edge of your ruffle. Make sure that your scales are
going in the correct direction. Even on the fabric store’s website, they have
the scales going the wrong way. The points should point up.
-Since I was gathering on my serger, I just turned my stitch length and
differential to the highest setting. This gave me a perfect 2 to one ratio, and I
had two ruffle panels to my one main panel.
Just be careful when you go over seams because this fabric likes to bunch.
You may need to help your fabric along.
If you do not have a serger, you can run two lines of gathering stitches using
your longest stitch length. Then, pull the threads to gather the fabric. There
are several gathering tutorial in the free pattern section.
Step 9: With right sides together, line up gathered edge of ruffle with the
main section of your tail. You scales will be going in different directions.
Step 10: Glue your gathered ruffle to your main fabric.
Step 11: You may need to ease your ruffle if it gathered too much. Don’t
worry. You can still slide your ruffles to make them a little less gathered.
Step 12: Sew your ruffle to your main fabric. Be careful not to serge off
your gathered ruffles.
If using a sewing machine for this step, your will probably need a little help to
start the fabric. Use a piece of interfacing to start sewing, and the delicate
edge of the foil fabric won’t get stuck in your machine.
Step 13: (Not shown, but see above). Carefully iron your ruffle. The seam
should be pointed towards the main fabric. Use a pressing cloth and a low
setting.
Step 14: Cut a piece of ¼” elastic that gives your child enough room to
move. My piece ended up being around 20” long, and the elastic is very
stretchy. I would have made it a bit longer for a younger child.
Anchor elastic on each end with a pin. Make sure that you only pin through
the seam that is already sewn.
Step 15: Bribe your child, husband, or neighbor to help you stretch the
elastic across the length of the sewn seam. Pin elastic to sewn seam.
When your child complains that the pin hurts his finger, give him a binder clip
to hold.
Step 16: Anchor each end of elastic with a few stitches.
Step 17: Zig-zag stitch or serge elastic to sewn seam. Stretch elastic as you
go. My sewing machine did okay for a little while until I had to switch to the
serger. Keep the elastic near the raw/cut edge of the fabric.
Step 18: (not shown, and optional) Serge top edge of main panel. This will
give you a cleaner look, but it is not necessary. This fabric does not fray.
Step 19: While fabric is still flat (not yet in a circle), iron 1 ½” down to make
elastic casing. Follow all ironing rules.
Step 20: Unfold ironed edge.
Step 21: Match sides of main panel and ruffle with right sides together. Use
glue or binder clips to hold it in place.
Step 22: Sew or serge side.
Step 23: Consider who will be wearing this. Then, anchor the elastic at the
end of the seam using a sewing machine.
Step 24: Glue and fold down the top edge of elastic casing that you ironed in
place.
Step 25: (not shown) Sew casing closed very close to the raw or serged edge
(about 1 ¼” inch from the fold). Leave a 3-4” opening to insert your elastic.
Cut a piece of 1” elastic that is about 2 inches smaller than child’s waist.
Mark the same side of the elastic on both ends with a fabric marker. Insert a
safety pin in each end of the elastic.
Insert elastic in casing. Make sure that the marked edge of each side of
elastic is showing. This should mean that your elastic didn’t get twisted.
Check it all the same.
Step 26: Sew elastic closed with a zig-zag stitch.
Step 27: Fold rest of casing down, and sew shut.
Step 28: Do a rolled hem on bottom edge of tail. You can do this on a serger
or with a rolled hem foot on a sewing machine.
You are finished!
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