I love how she turned out.
It took me several tries to get the faces and the hair to a place I liked.
More embroidered scales. I used white silk buttonhole thread to keep the dark blue threads in place. The buttonhole thread originally came from my mom’s sewing collection!
The back of her tail is plain.
I have one more mermaid but she needs to go back to the worktable. Hopefully I can show her to you in a few days. I’ve also dyed some more ombre fabrics and am so excited to sew them up!
I have gotten lots of requests for mermaids but I was not imagining anything to move forward with. During my break from making, I’d been mulling over the idea of ombre (shaded) dyeing. Finally I’ve tried it and am loving it!
Here is Mermaid 1-
I am so excited to be playing with something new!
Green hair
Mermaid hair is a challenge!
No cover-up for her!
Trying out embroidered scales with variegated thread.
I have been meaning to get back to making big ladies (that link is from 2006!) for a long while but something else always seems to be ahead in line. Finallythey are back on the worktable after some pattern tweeking. But then this lady/mermaid needed to get made and she pushed ahead!
I will definitely be playing with this idea again- I love her! After her though, I’ve got some regular ladies that I am working on. The last time I really made any was around 2010 so yes, it’s been a while. I don’t know why I stopped after making these lovelies.
Here they are- the mermaid girl gang-
and I did make her a little shawl.
I have listed all these girls in my Etsy shop now. Maybe tomorrow I will get to the princess girls.
Why do I make dolls? Because every time I finish one, I fall in love.
I spent way too much time making this dress. But, I DO like it!
Hmm. Now I am remembering that I was going to make her a little shawl. I have just the right color- an ochre. Maybe I will go do that now.
Another girl with a dress made of Heather Ross Mendocino fabric. I love her fabric.
She has a cashmere shawl with silk ribbons-
that wrap around and tie in the back.
Here she is without her shawl-
It is a girl with mermaids!
And, the Heather Ross fabrics are out again.
Back of the pinafore- button and sash.
A double underskirt with ruffles at the hems.
I’m out of practice. I took her outside and took a number of photos, but couldn’t choose the one I liked best. This one shows her hair the most clearly.
I like the pose of this one.
And I like the color contrast on this one.
Any opinions?
This was my studio, mid-afternoon. She was finished but I put her in the window to look at and be sure. There are 2 more girls on the desk, waiting for their dresses.
and another more classic one-
Some of my new felt- I love having so many colors to choose from. And the button- it has been in my stash since 1980.
Two mermaids together-
This girl is inspired by mermaids but is not a mermaid. There are loads of photos because I love how she came together!
When I was planning a mermaid inspired girl, I thought of doing it with just the colors. Of course it would have been subtle… and who wants subtle? I’ve been obsessing about Heather Ross‘ mermaid fabric (Mendocino)– knowing that I had to find a way to use it in something. So, put it all together and here she is!
She has an angora blend sweater with a little ruffle around the bottom edge. The sweater closes with an orange button.
Underneath she has a pinafore made from 2 of the Mendocino fabrics- seahorses and mermaids.
The back with it’s button closure-
And here is her cashmere underskirt. It also has a ruffled lettuce edge. And an elastic waist with a button closure.
The back view-
And sitting-
I’ve had mermaids on my mind for a while now and finally have had time to get to work on them.
One done-
Her bangs are dyed wool locks- I thought they looked very fish/ seaweed/ ocean look.
A little starfish in her head-
Hair back- sweater ribbing-
She has a ruffle fin on her bottom-
More photos on flickr.
Some mermaids that I love- Danita’s, Mariana Massarani’s (she inspired my first set of mermaids), and Amy’s to name a few.