Mermaid Tail Pattern for Barbie and the story behind my Barbie posts

I treated myself to a lazy morning of scrolling through Etsy and happened upon Mermaid Tails for Barbie. I thought they were cute and remembered this blingy fabric at Walmart and the next thing I knew, I was in the car... A fun little bonus, the fabric was on clearance so 1/4 yard (easily enough for 4 tails) was 63¢. You could make simple tops out of the scrap fabric too, I used the sequined headband from my bathing suit tutorial HERE.

Now let me say upfront, I do not have the patience to be a proper seamstress, no I do not. 

So some of my ideas are the kind a 10 year old might come up with:@)
This is one of those...

If you search 'Barbie mermaid tail' on pinterest you'll find ideas, patterns and directions.

There are even links to buy them from Etsy and Ebay.

I just roughly drew this, the flat side goes against the folded fabric and cut 2.

Place the right sides together and sewed 1/4" seam from side, around tail and up to the other side.

Turn right side out, push tail points out.
The opening will be wide-and easier to get on the doll...

I just made a waist band from a stretchy headband (cut to size and hot glued together),
pulled it over the doll's hips and held the tail in place with that.
If you want to sew a waistband, you'll have to add length to the top of the pattern.

I know some might wonder... Why does a woman with grown sons and no grandkids put Barbie doll posts on her blog? Well, I'll tell you:@) One of my favorite childhood memories is, one day Ma sewed me a brand new pair of pajamas, then she took the fabric scraps and sewed a matching pair for my Barbie! Boy I thought I was a hot shot and felt very special indeed! Here at Pig In Mud I try to share simple ideas folks can make for ~or with~ girls, hoping you too can build special memories. My Barbie board on Pinterest can be found HERE.

Make something just for fun and have a happy day:@)