This is an exciting project!
I hope you go through with it, and I'd love to see the shoot when itsa done, what a great idea!

Oh, so this is what she was talking about! *light bulb goes on!*

My studio is doing Peter Pan, and I got cast as a mermaid, and the costumer was trying to tell about how they found these mermaid tail patterns online and how people actually swim with them, etc....this must be what she was talking about. Way cool...

Yup, that's pretty much what our mermaid tails look like, except ours our made with sequins and other beautiful sparkly-ness and we can't actually swim in them

Question: when you measured yourself for the tail part, did you do it lying down or standing up? FYI, don't do it lying down, because it will be too big (gravity naturally makes your circumference larger when you're lying down...)

I always do it standing up. If I want to do a waist-to-floor measurement I'll hold one end of the measuring tape with my toes

I made my first “real” swimmable tail several months ago and it works wonderfully. I took it to several of the freshwater springs here in Florida and had a blast living out a childhood fantasy. You can see my videos here - youtube.com . . .

The material that I used was called “Merlot Whisper” and it was sold in the home décor fabric section at Joann Fabrics. I did use a Monofin underneath the tail and I left the entire bottom of the tail open to allow free flow of water through the tail as well as easy insertion of the Monofin into the tail. In order to hide the purple Monofin I sewed some flowy Lycra onto the edges of the tail. Then I painted the fin with acrylic paints. They bond permanently to the fabric and haven’t budged once in the many times that I’ve been swimming (I just got back from swimming in the Caribbean Virgin Islands and salt water couldn’t touch it either!)

I am currently in the process of making my second tail with completely different materials. This time around I am going to make a MUCH more realistic tail using colored silicone and I am molding my own fin using Plexiglas. So far this tail has been EXTREMELY labor intensive. My husband’s heard me in the other room screaming at the tail several times (So unmermaid-like). But through much trial and error I think I’ve finally figured it out. The materials are fairly cheep but you’ll have several weeks of work on your hands. Here’s my material list and process so far –

Materials –
Spandex/swimsuit material in a color close to the color tail you want – Joann Fabric - $10-15.00/yard (you can get 40% off if you are on their mailing list!)
Metallic Acrylic paints – Any craft or hobby store - $1.50/bottle
Plexiglas – Home Depot – About $20 for a good sized sheet
Sculpey Clay - Any craft or hobby store - $3/small block
Pure clear silicone caulking – Wal-Mart - $2.50/tube
Caulking gun – Home Depot - $5.00
Brown butcher’s paper – Home Depot - $5/roll
Mineral spirits – I borrowed this from my Dad but I’m sure you can get it and any home supply store – Not sure of the price
Friend with some sort of table saw & drill – You’ll need this to cut your fin out if the Plexiglas
Swimsuit (preferably “boyshort” bottoms) that fit you comfortably
Duct Tape, Thread, Sharpie marker, and disposable soup bowls/forks/knife or cake spatula
Water Shoes - www.swimoutlet.com . . . - $9.95
Big piece of cardboard or foam board – If you want to spend money on cardboard, be my guest, but you can get it for free at almost appliance store. If you want something a little stronger than cardboard foam board works really well, but there aren’t many craft stores that sell foam board larger than “poster” size.
“T” Pins – Any craft or office supply store
Thick hemp cord – Wal-Mart – about $8.00 for a huge ball

Spread the brown paper on a flat surface big enough for you to lay down flat on. Lay down on the paper, knees together, leaving enough room at your feet for the desired size of your fin. While you lay on the paper, have a friend trace with a Sharpie pen from your waist down to your feet (make sure to point those toes!) and back up the other side. Get up, now lay your bathing suit that’s been turned inside out on the paper roundabout where it would sit on your body. See how much room there is between where you traced and where your un-stretched bathing suit sits? Using your Sharpie, mark where the sides of your bathing suit come to. Now using the same distance between your “body line” and your “suit line” draw a line all the way around the tail shape

Now stand back, and decide how you want your fin to look. Will it look like a dolphin’s fin (flat and straight), like Disney’s Ariel’s fin (petal-like), like a goldfish (feathery). Once you’ve decided, draw the fin as symmetrically as possible. Now it’s time to cut out your pattern!

Once you have cut out the pattern, fold it in half lengthwise and trim off any edges that don’t match up (Try not to cut too much and make sure to keep the edges smooth. Don’t cut out chunks!). Now your pattern should be a symmetrical 2D mermaid’s tail!.

Pin the pattern to your spandex/swimsuit material that’s been doubled so you have two layers. Cut out the tail. Pin the edges together and sew a seam about a half and inch away from the edge of the fabric. Sew ONLY the sides of the tail. Leave the bottom open (you will put your Plexiglas fin in here later. Turn the tail right side out.

Now lay the fin only part of your pattern on the Plexiglas and trace around it with your Sharpie. Have your tool savvy friend cut the fin out with their table saw. Looks kind of like your Monofin, huh? Now you will want to attach shoes to the fin. Try to find shoes that are thin but strong and will not rot with water contact. Water shoes are the best option. Drill seven holes in the sole of each shoe - two in the toes, two on each side, and one in the heel. Now duct tape the shoes to the upper end of the fin (you don’t have to duct tape them any specific way, this is just temporary. Just make sure that they are side by side and secure. Turn the fin over and with your Sharpie mark each hole on the fin. Now you can drill the holes in the correct locations on the fin. Take your thick hemp cord and thread it through the Plexiglas into the heel of the shoe. Thread it in and out of each of the corresponding holes making giant stitches all the way around the shoe. Make sure each of the stitches are as tight as possible and make a secure, snug knot at the heel. Once you’ve done both shoes you’ll have your own homemade monofin!!!

Now, you can either cut one inch off each side of the paper pattern or make a new paper pattern 2 inches smaller than your first one. Slide the paper pattern inside the tail, pin the tail to your big sheet of cardboard using the “T” pins, and get ready to get messy.

~* I'm still in the process of writing these instructions. Hopefully this is enough to hold you until I finish and post the rest. Happy Tailing!!! (gosh, that sounded dorky )