Mermaid Doll

My daughter is starting to carry around dolls while she's roaming the house, so I thought it might be fun to try making a doll for her.  Then I saw this mermaid doll pattern/tutorial and knew it would be the one to try.  I grew up in the hype of "The Little Mermaid"  in the '90's so I have a soft spot for mermaids.

And I liked that this one had a removable tail so she could just be a doll as well.  Here's the one I made.

I would suggest something if you are going to make this doll/mermaid...I used knit fabric for her body (the polka dot print) but that was a bad choice.  It stretched and was hard to get the bottom where her legs are to look good.  Also, it's color is too close to her body color, so it blends in.  I was originally going to use a magenta glitter satin, but thought the tail might not stay up on a slippery fabric - but now I wish I had just gone with my first plan.  I do wish it was easier to find better colors in felt.  They don't really make a strawberry blonde felt; I wanted to match my daughter's hair.  So I went with the brown; it's cute, but I wish there was a better color for a blonde doll.

The pattern printed out huge for me, so I just shrunk all the pieces in photoshop before starting since I didn't want a life sized doll.  I don't know if my printer settings were off or what, but keep in mind you can always shrink or expand patterns like this.

The tail was made out of scraps of fabric that my mom used to make my niece's mermaid halloween costume...a teal satin and a sheer, shimmery teal fabric to put over it for the shiny effect.  It was soooooo difficult to sew with.  I don't know how my mom stayed sane making a costume out of it.

I also used a scrap of shirred fabric left over from making a toddler dress a couple years ago to make the doll a dress as well - variety for changing outfits.  I didn't have any stuffing, so don't tell anyone, but I just used a seam ripper and pulled some out of a couch pillow :)  So this doll was made with scraps and borrowed stuffing - didn't cost anything to make her!!  I love free projects!

My daughter carried it around with her most of the evening last night.  It even went for rides on the truck with her.  Not the best picture of her though...she looks kinda disheveled.  Her hair won't grow on the sides, but she has a mop of curls on the top and in the back.  So kindof a mohawk and a mullet combination.  I can usually distract from that with a headband and hair clip when we leave the house.