What do you do when your daughter’s favourite Barbie loses a leg? You turn her into a mermaid, of course.
I used some red organza leftover from the days when I made theatre costumes at uni. It has a beautiful golden sheen, perfect for making a fish tail.
First I layered the organza with some sew in interfacing and sewed a scallop pattern all over it to mimic scales. I didn’t do a great job but I don’t believe Little Miss Bossy-Boots minds. Then I cut out a mermaid tail shape (is there such a word in the English language?), added a heart shaped fin, sewed it together and turned it right side out. Next I removed the Barbie’s second leg and attached a pipe cleaner to the Barbie to ensure the tail could be moved into different poses. Then I put the pipe cleaner into the tail and added a little wadding to fill out the tail. My last step was to pull the tail over the Barbie’s bottom and hot-glue the tail to the Barbie’s body. Hey presto, a mermaid.
In other news Hester, the gorgeous Woodland Portrait by Jo Avery from Bearpaw, is finished!
I wish I’d had a darker blue floss for the name as it is rather difficult to read but it’s not the end of the world. Also, I don’t think this Hester is going to be alone for long, my friend Julie looooves rabbits so one might just make its way to Switzerland…
Genius!!!
What a great rescue! I’m so so impressed!
You did such BEAUTIFUL job with Hester! If you want to darken the blue, why not buy some darker blue and the ‘whip’ the back stitch with it (sort of thread it through the stitches – google it!), that will make it stand out more without having to unpick it and the stitch has a nice woven effect when 2 colours are used. I am just linking to this post in my blog!
That mermaid is even cuter than the original Barbie, I’m sure! I’m thinking you should patent her & sell the rights to Mattel! Simply adorable!! (as is Hester!)