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…