Banner Sponsors

Just Us Bears Mar 16, 2006

I want to make a bear that is a mermaid....so the body finishes at the belly button area and becomes a tail.
I can't get my head around the tail part...I think I'll need to make the part that joins the tail to the waist using an upside down 'arched' construction with darts at the bottom or similar...but I can work out how to make the tail (fin) part and attach it. Any brilliant ideas?? The bear will be too big to consider needlefelting the tail.
BTW...this is a tricky question...so if no-one replies..I totally understand okay!

Best Dressed Bears Mar 16, 2006

I Hayley,
I have had a mermaid in my thoughts to make also. I haven't  gotten around to the challenge yet, but i think I would be doing  the same; make an arch and then you would need to dart it to bring it down into the shape I would probably consider putting some wire or one of those bendy joint systems inside it  then you will be able to create deep curves once attatched. I would probably also do it in away that you can attatch small pieces of fabric to make the scales and then your darts would not be seen.
I hope this makes sense and it helps :hug: 
Bear hugs and smiles
Kerrie

starlite Mar 16, 2006

Hi Haley,
I made a miniature mermaid just before Christmas - she has a picture posted in the miniature postings if you want to have a look. I used wiring in the tail  and put it in through the waist if you know what I mean - which is where I joined the wire and then stitched the edge of the stuffed tail to the body at the waistline to cover.  the body was a whole body without legs and mostly stuffed to give me a sort of egg shape to fit into the tail.  I wired the tail and fins to allow posing - I whip stitched the wire to the seams of the tail with fins which was made with a stretchy shiny jersey type fabric (dancers costume fabric - so there was most likely lycra content in it)   Hope this makes sense.  The little boy who got it for Christmas loved it so I think the final look was okay.
Hope this is a little help to you :hug:  :hug:

krystolla Mar 17, 2006

I spent weeks agonizing over just the right fabric for my mer-bear's tail -- I finally settled on sparkly ultrasuede with organza fins. I carefully wired the tail so it would be posable but the ultrasuede + stuffing ended up too thick for the wires to hold position  :redface:

My plan for next time is to use darts around the hip to make sure that she has a large enough "butt" area to sit, and maybe thinning out the tail so it's narrower. It you look at most mermaid dolls online you'll notice that the tail narrows to about an ankle width rather than staying as wide as if there were two fused legs going on.

You might want to think about trim to accent the area where the tail meets the body (and possibly where the tail meets the tail fins). I had some good luck buying freshwater rice pearls on ebay and used those to good effect, but I think a bit of sparkly trim might be nice too.

Oh, the other thing I'd suggest is to have the area connecting the body to the tail be curved rather than a straight cut -- furry belly but scaly hips sort of thing rather than a panda pattern. I think it would look more natural now that I've tried the straight line approach. 

So that's my small store of mermaid-tail knowledge -- I hope that helps! Please share what you find out too, I need all the help I can get for my next round of pattern editing!

-- Erika
Fuzzbutt Bears

makafelts Mar 17, 2006

mine is needle felted & beaded...but might give some inspiration

Just Us Bears Mar 17, 2006

Thanks you guys...each of you has been helpful already! Anne...I love your little mermaid! And Charlotte..yours is too cute, especially the bikini!
One of the main mental blocks I have is with joining the tail fins to the base of the tail. I can't get my head around whether I should try to make the fins all in one with the tail or make them seperately and attach. I guess I'm thinking if the tail comes down and narrows at the ankle area with the aid of darts...having the tail fins figured in all that mess is about more than my little blonde brain can comprehend! Yep..I'm thinking to make the tail seperatly and laddder stitch it on.
I will be using organza and bits and bobs to embellish the tail for a more wispy look and to cover any seams..it's just the actual design I'm having trouble with.
Every night when I go to bed, I toss it around in my mind...and go off to sleep none the wiser, but with a brain pain!
I love to challenge my designing skills...but this one hurts! Ow!

I guess it's time to get out the paper towel and go dress teddy,

matilda Mar 22, 2006

This is a sketch I did at one time when trying to get my head around different ideas for bears. Itmay give you some idea. I hope.

Just Us Bears Mar 22, 2006

Thanks Matilda..you are quite a drawer huh! Very clever!
The mermaid I wish to do will be sitting on a rock so I want to have the tail kinda resting at the base and the fin part in the air...hard to describe.
I appreciate your help..thank you. You should make yours up! :hug:

jazzyrags Mar 27, 2006

Heyley this might help