Are you tired of these mermen yet? I have one more left to finish before I am on to the next thing. But honestly, these have been really fun!
Yep, purple beard and hair.
And how do you like that topknot/man bun.
And here he is, hanging out at his birthplace.
When I was dyeing up the fabric pieces for these mermen, I had the idea that I wanted to make a golden one. When I searched through the colors, I choose one that was labeled caramel. And I did get caramel. But I was still thinking about golden: hence the blond hair. He ended up completely different from what I’d been aiming for at the start but I love who he became. It is always a surprise.
Picking out a button is always a very big decision!
Yes, he is a very big fellow. This is a link to another big man merman that I made a while back. You may notice that this new merman has a longer tail. When I cut out the tail pieces, I adjusted the proportions of the tail to match the slimmer guys, not really thinking about how his torso is longer. So he’s ended up about 2 inches longer than any of the other mermen. Oh well!
Also, he is made of linen which is a little stretchier when stuffed so that helped him grow.
I have listed 2 of the other mermen into my etsy shop today but I’m going to hold off on this one. I need to figure out if I’ve got a box that he would fit into for shipping!
I have a seemingly endless store of fabric, spanning so many years of collecting. This merman tail is made of vintage Laura Ashley fabric, circa 1970’s. My sister lived in Montreal in the 70’s and could buy bags of off-cuts which she gifted to me- thanks Tina! I still have some of it in my stash and it shows up every once in a while.
More hair styling-
The button looks like sea glass.
This fellows looks like he is from the colder part of the ocean, not the tropics. He is more into the camouflage and limited colors versus the bright tropical colors.
I thought he was looking a little too plain so I sewed these antique star beads onto his beard.
He also has a fish bead-
The little fins are the same pattern as his hair but in a different colorway.
Another blue man, this one with an octopus on his chest…. and arms, and back.
That is an antique shell button. My collection of buttons is endless. And a close-up of the embroidery on the rick rack.
Palm trees and mermen go together, right?
More fun with merman hair. The color is dark purple/red with black crosshatching.
Lounging on the sofa-
And outside.
I have got more mermen in the pipeline but will be putting these 3 into my etsy shop in the next 24 hours. I will update when they are listed.
edited- They’ve all been claimed. I will have some more next week.
I made a blue merman a long while back (October 2017) and I have wanted to make more but kept being unsatisfied with my blue dyeing attempts. As I described here, I finally approached the dyeing in a more deliberate fashion, found actual color charts and recipes, and this time I got colors that I was happy with. Funny thing about that!
I am having fun with the merman hair- making exaggerated swoops.
I am having the best time with these colors.
A close-up of his hair-
I posted this photo (above) on my Instagram feed a few days ago. I sewed up 10 mermen over the weekend and I am so excited to see who they are! They are very, very colorful- Spring must be in the air. Here is the first fellow that pushed to the front of the line and made himself known.
He has swoosh-y hair and a swoosh-y beard…
So why green? These fellows are fantasy creatures so they can be any color, right? Also, I like the idea of trying out a range of skin tones. Then I can play with all kinds of crazy hair colors, eye colors. So, I guess it is about keeping it fun.
He is the last of the mermen for now. I am planning to get them into the etsy shop tomorrow and I will post when I do.
Another man bun-
Manly chest with a Navel battle in progress.
Ships and foliage on his arms.
