Wundergirl has been some sort of Princess every Halloween…we’ve made our way through Tinkerbell, Strawberry Shortcake Berryfest Princess, and Rapunzel. This year she decided that she was getting a little too big to be a princess again (I disagree! You’re never too old to be a Princess *says the mom that dressed as Cinderella last year*) but thought that since Ariel was a Mermaid AND a Princess it would be the perfect costume.
She wanted something authentic looking. The store bought costumes are pretty with all of their ruffles and flourishes but she wanted to look like a “Real” mermaid. She showed me a picture of Ariel from the little Mermaid and said “See a real tail like this, and a purple top”.
To Make the Skirt I used:
- 1 yard of green sequin fabric
- 1.5 yards green satin fabric
- 1- 8in piece of green ribbon
- small piece of batting
- 3/4″ elastic for the waistband
- Simplicity Pattern #4043 (I bought this several years ago, on sale)
Now, I can sew but since I am making three costumes, I do prefer an easy version. I modified the pattern so that it would be easier to create and not take as long.
Modify Pattern #4043:
- Cut two of Tail (green sequin fabric)
- Cut two of lining (green satin fabric)
- Cut two of fin (green satin fabric)
- Cut one of batting (for fin)
- Cut elastic to fit child’s waist
- Sew fin per pattern instructions, using ribbon piece as your handle
- Sew Tail and Lining per pattern instructions EXCEPT do not add boning, and do not add Yoke.
- Sew Tail and Fin sections together
- Fold over top waistband 1.5 inches and sew to create a tubing for elastic. Leave one side section open to feed elastic through.
- Insert elastic, sew elastic closed, and sew waistband closed.
To Create the Top you will need:
- 1 rectangle piece of purple satin fabric (about 8 x 12″)
- 2 yards wide purple satin ribbon
- 1 yard green ribbon
- Fold purple fabric in half length-wise with right sides together and sew down the open side to close
- Turn right side out and gather center. Place a piece of green ribbon around the center.
- Turn under both sides so no raw edges are showing and pin the purple ribbon to the inside. Sew to close.
- Sew 18″ of green ribbon to the top of each side to form a halter-style top
*We used a flesh colored leotard as the base for the costume. Halloween night she will likely be wearing tights or leggings to help keep her warm, as well.
**For her hair, we added waves with a crimping iron and I made a seashell clip but Hot-gluing a seashell to a barette
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