How to do children's costume DIY mermaids using improvised materials? We have a wonderful master class with photos on how to quickly and easily sew a comfortable little mermaid costume for a girl for Halloween or New Year 2017.
The Little Mermaid, the heroine of Disney cartoons, is adored by all girls. And it is not surprising that at the matinee in kindergarten they ask parents to make a little mermaid costume. For this occasion, we have a master class on how to quickly and easily make a mermaid costume for a girl with your own hands.
What will you need
to sew a mermaid costume for a girl with your own hands
To make a little mermaid costume for a girl you will need:
- organza in five different shades to make the tail,
- a small piece of plain thin knitted fabric for the top of the suit (you can use an unnecessary T-shirt).
The process will not take you longer than an hour, but the joy from the result will last much longer.
How to make a children's mermaid costume
DIY mermaid costume from scrap materials
DIY little mermaid costume for a girl
How to sew a mermaid costume
Don't forget that in order to sew a DIY mermaid costume for a girl, you will need fabric for the scales, so think about the quantity and size in advance.
For the base of the tail of a mermaid costume, organza is ideal. Organza will give the suit a special magic, but you can also use felt, or leave the bottom layer unhemmed.
You'll have to look for a couple of items in your closet, such as tights and a dance leotard. And the wig, of course...
The colors of the mermaid costume depend entirely on your choice, but if you imitate Ariel, then choose everything the same as in the picture.
How to make a children's mermaid costume with your own hands from improvised materials
Step 1. To make a children's little mermaid costume with your own hands, measure the distance from the child's waist to the floor, then the child's waist circumference and chest circumference.
Step 2. Calculate the fabric for the tail: width - waist + 10 cm, length - distance from the waist to the floor + 25 cm. To calculate the fabric for the top, use the chest volume.
Let's start sewing a mermaid costume for a girl with our own hands. Step by step instructions
- Fold the main piece of fabric (the base of the tail) in half, draw the outline of the tail and cut out the tail along it.
- Scales: Select squares from the remnants of fabric of all shades, fold them in half and draw the outline of a semicircle.
- We begin to sew on the scales: on one half of the tail, starting from the bottom of the fin, proceed to sewing on the scales, layering them one on top of the other and alternating colors.
Note: For best results, it is recommended to extend slightly beyond the edges of the tail itself. This way the outlines will be less clear, but more realistic.
- Continue sewing scales all the way to the top of the tail.
- After all the unnecessary protruding edges can be trimmed.
- Let's get down to the nitty-gritty: Take two (short) strips of the remaining fabric, hem it for a neat look, and press the edges.
- Now sew the ties to the sides of the tail, slightly backing from the top edge.
- Take the other half of the tail, place it on top of the wrong side of the half with scales and sew along all the edges.
- To complete the ties, take a couple of the remaining scales and sew them to the ends of the ties. The tail is ready!
- Now let's move on to the top: We take the fabric, tie a knot in the middle and attach a string to it.
P.S. Don't forget about shiny tights, a swimsuit and a red wig for a little girl's mermaid costume to conquer all the inhabitants of the deep sea!
We hope you found our master class useful on how to sew a children's little mermaid costume with your own hands from available materials and your daughter will be an original Disney princess at the matinee.
Every girl loves fairy tales about the adventures of the Little Mermaid. In anticipation New Year's holidays parents are starting to think about creating carnival costume for the daughter, and adult girls - about creating an image for a costume party. A Mermaid outfit for a carnival is the best and brightest option for a girl. You can make one of these at home. We'll tell you how to make a costume with your own hands.
The main attribute of every Mermaid is the tail.. You can achieve complete imitation with the help of a long skirt.
The top will be a top or a brightly decorated swimsuit. The top can be replaced with a T-shirt decorated in a marine theme.
Particular attention is paid to accessories. They help make the outfit complete and complete.
In many modern films and fairy tales, the body of mythical creatures is decorated with bright drawings. That's why as an addition, face painting is suitable for marine theme .
Costume base
Let's start making the costume.
Making the top 
As a top you can use a swimsuit bodice, which needs to be slightly transformed.
For finishing, you can use imitation scales, which are easy to make yourself. In progress You will need organza fabric, scissors and glue.
Cut out small circles from the material. Gradually, starting from the bottom of the cup, glue the mugs onto the swimsuit. The bottom of one circle should slightly overlap the previous one. In this way we cover the entire swimsuit. The top is ready. A bodysuit with long sleeve flesh-colored.
A plain blouse, which is easy to decorate yourself, is also suitable as a base. We cut out shells from silver or red fabric with a shiny texture. Using safety pins, we fix the material on the blouse and carefully sew it on. You can stick rhinestones on the top of the bodice. We also decorate the blouse itself bright stones or sequins.
Working on the skirt 
The skirt performs not only a decorative function. It is the basis for the tail, which is located at the end.
Materials:
- organza;
- tulle;
- satin fabric;
- rubber;
- scissors;
- sewing meter;
- rubber;
- glue;
- threads;
- needle;
- sewing machine.
Using a sewing meter measure the length of the product. The best option would be to end the skirt approximately mid-calf. From organza We cut out a narrow skirt that widens just below the knee. We cut the front and back parts. We sew the seams using a machine. We insert an elastic band into the belt and sew the ends together by hand. Sew up the remaining space.
Carefully hem the tail area. It is recommended to treat the incision site with a reinforcer so that the seams do not come apart at the wrong time. To do this, cut out a strip of material, fold it in half and sew it by hand to the base of the cut. We cut off the rest.
Important! The reinforcement must be secured on both sides of the fabric.
Skirt decor
An addition to the skirt is imitation scales. It can be made from satin fabric.
Cut out small circles from the material. Glue the figures onto the surface of the skirt using glue or a glue gun.
The skirt is ready.
Image details
Having prepared the basis, we move on to important details, which will help you create your favorite fairy-tale image.
Mermaid tail 
A fluffy tail is the main attribute of any Little Mermaid. To achieve greater pomp, you can add small strips of tulle under the base of the organza ponytail.
To do this, cut out ribbons of medium width from the material. When choosing the length, focus on the cuts that protrude as the tail. The tulle should be the same length as the fins.
Carefully sew on the ribbons. For volume, it is recommended to apply several layers of material, the stripes of which will differ in length. When placed on the sides, the tulle can be made slightly longer so that it peeks out from under the fins. The Little Mermaid's tail is ready.
Advice: Use different shades of fabric to make the skirt, scales and tail.
Decorations 
Accessories help complement any ensemble. When choosing a mythical character, the outfit can be varied using several options.
- Diadem or crown on the head. In the cartoon about Ariel, many mermaids appear with cute jewelry. This accessory can be purchased at a specialized store or made independently. Need a crown cut out of cardboard and brightly decorate with sequins, rhinestones and satin fabric.
- Shell-shaped earrings and a small bright necklace made of large beads will be a smart addition.
The necklace can also be replaced with a long headband made of artificial flowers.
Makeup
The final stage in creating a costume is makeup. Cartoon and movie characters have colorful hairstyles. For a Little Mermaid costume, a wig of red, blue, turquoise or purple is suitable.
Pay attention to your eyes and collarbones. Shiny shadows can be applied to this area of the body.
Face painting is suitable for little princesses. Decorate your cheeks with a marine-themed pattern using suitable shades.
Useful tips 
- It is recommended to wear additional clothing underneath the suit: T-shirt or bodysuit in a flesh-colored color, leggings or tights. During use of the suit, some elements may prick unpleasantly or lead to injury. Extra clothing will help prevent this.
- Many girls use a lighter version of the costume. IN Instead of a skirt, leggings decorated with fins made of satin fabric or organza are suitable.
- To create scales, polyethylene hand-painted with bright colors is suitable.
- When decorating the top, you can use paper cupcake pans.
Big holidays are always accompanied by carnival costumes. The most popular among girls is the costume of their favorite princess, the Little Mermaid. Using several methods, the costume is easy to make yourself. In this outfit, any holiday for a child will become an unforgettable adventure.
Mermaid costume for girls consists of three main components:
corsage
shells
tail
Step 1: Bodice
The first step in developing this project was that it should be Mermaid costume for girls to ensure it fits and is functional, since my client makes costumes for children, they need to be age appropriate. Usually Mermaid costumes consist of a simple bra, but we didn't want to show much naked body. To solve this problem, I created a girl's mermaid costume as a strapless dress with seashells attached to the chest.
Let's begin!
Outer layer of bodice: Consists of 7 parts: central front, 2 side front, 2 side back, 2 central back with lacing. The fabric that makes up the bodice matches the color of the naked body Mermaid costume for girls, is cut out on the panel, respectively from the center, to the sides and back. These panels must be sewn inside out and adjusted, making it possible to change the size Mermaid costume for girls according to her size, and fit it exactly as soon as you lace it up.
Bodice Lining: Consists of colored polyester for a nude look. Since the lining is a mirror image of the outer layer, you need to construct it exactly the same, but add a 1" seam allowance for boning the body. We also sew the fabric in the chest area to add shape to the bodice shape hourglass how we tried to achieve. For this you can use swimsuit pads or something similar.
Assembly! At this point I join the inner and outer pieces together, and making sure the seams match, I stitch them. Go ahead and sew the lacing from top to bottom to ensure security.
Step 2: Sinks
Since mermaids always wander around topless and only simple outfits adorn their chests, this part of the girl's mermaid costume took me the longest to make from scratch. The shells turned out to be luminescent, purple, with precious stones to really catch your eye!
Material: Have you ever heard of a magical material called Wonderflex? This little thing saved my life! It is used by costume designers, enthusiasts. It comes in large rolls and looks like a really heavy material, with a fabric mesh built into the plastic. Using it is simple - you simply shape it with a heat gun (or hair dryer in my case). I originally tried to make these shells out of clay, but it was a complete failure... until I used clay molds like the wonderflex molds.
To begin this process I cut two large circles of material, about 11" in diameter. Placed it on top of the clay mold and began heating it with a hair dryer. After pressing, stretching and molding the wonderflex into the correct shape, I let it cool and removed it from the shapes, cut along the contour, and sanded these cut edges so that they were smooth.
Note: Since this material is thermoplastic, DO NOT leave products in a hot vehicle or any other environment where the temperature may rise. It will become deformed and may even lose its shape.
Color: The last step is to apply about 4 coats of purple paint until we get the look we want, then cover them with lip gloss, which gives the shells a wet look. In addition, I superglued the purple and white stones. Voila! This was such a time-consuming process, but without wonderflex, none of this would have been possible!
Step 3: Tail
To create a ponytail that wouldn't get in the way of walking and sitting, I approached it as if it were a pencil skirt, with a very high waist and tapered around the knee, but with a large slit in the back at knee height. The skirt itself consists of three very long pieces that are fastened together to create a horn-like figure. It is visible from the front, and slopes slightly to the side so that the wearer can hold the tail with a bracelet on the appropriate side.
Fabrics: Green polyester material for the lining, batting for the structured inner layer, emerald foil on the outside, and the use of chiffon to tie it all together. These are 4 layers of fabric, the desired color, structure and weight!
Scales: The scales were made using four yards of glitter chiffon cut in 5" curly lines. This was the most time consuming part of creating the girl's mermaid costume as it was a material that I had to singe the edges of each layer with a tea light. But the end result was stunning!
After that, I combined the tiers and stitched everything into a single design.
Step 4:
Let's put all the pieces together! Now we connect the bodice to the tail, but only to the outside of the tail. Then we sew the tail lining to the bodice and give it a well finished look. I also added hip straps at the side seam so the girl's Mermaid costume could be hung.
Charming Ariel from the Disney cartoon "The Little Mermaid" is a favorite of many children. Little girls really want to be like the sea princess. Birthday party, carnival, New Year's party This is a great excuse to wear a homemade mermaid costume. It looks luxurious, and is sewn quickly and easily. To make a carnival mermaid costume for a girl, you don’t need a pattern. The elastic skirt in this outfit will serve as the bodice of the dress. Of course, children and adults associate mermaids with girls with fish tails, but walking in such an outfit, much less dancing, is not very comfortable.
We will need;
- elastic skirt (can be replaced with a knitted one);
- blue and green tulle;
- decorative artificial flower;
- braid;
- scissors.
- If you can't find tulle ribbons, you'll have to cut them yourself. The optimal width is 10-12 centimeters. Then decide on the desired length of the skirt, multiply it by two and make 50-60 strips of tulle of that length.
- Take a strip of tulle, fold it in half and thread it through the outermost loops of the bottom edge of the top. Secure the strip by threading the ends through the resulting loop. Pull the knot tightly.
- Process the entire bottom edge of the top in the same way. As a result, you will get this fluffy skirt with a top.
- But the creation of a mermaid costume for children is not completed, because there is no hint of a characteristic fish tail! To make it, you need to divide all the tulle strips into three parts. One will be in front, the other two will be behind. To make your work easier, tie them together with rubber bands. Now cut 50-60 strips of blue tulle. Their length should be about 10 centimeters. Tie them to the ends of the green strips. Try to ensure that the stripes at the back of the skirt are several centimeters longer than the front ones.
- You can sew a mermaid costume with or without straps. If the top is loose and does not fit the body very well, it is better to make two supporting straps. To do this, thread a piece of ribbon through the top of the top and secure both ends with knots on the inside. An excellent addition would be a decorative knot on one of the straps, knitted from satin ribbon and narrow strips of tulle.
- If you wish, you can decorate the neckline with a gather by threading a braid between the loops of the top's weave. Tighten the ends and you're done!
- As you can see, making a New Year's mermaid costume with your own hands is not a difficult task. Even beginners in needlework can do this. However, the accessories that complement this outfit are no less important than the dress itself. A variety of necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and pendants would be appropriate in this case. Jewelry made from seashells and pebbles.
If you need to make a mermaid costume for children with a tail, we offer a simple master class.
