Mermaids are Forever

It's the day before a friends 6 year old's birthday and, while checking in on some details, she writes a throw away line "If you happen to see a mermaid T-shirt I'll pay you back".

So I searched the internet and found that mermaids are out and unicorns are in... Hmmm... Time for my thinking cap!

After searching for a free and simple shirt pattern, again, I was left feeling like this was an impossible task. I can do basic sewing but I'm no seamstress. No wonder my friend was desperate.

Then I thought about the years of dancing and some of the gorgeous patterned fabric that was stretchy like T-shirt fabric and didn't fray. Perfect for not needing to hem! I also remembered seeing some really easy to make tops at a market that was just a single piece of fabric with some ribbon to tie it together (If you can find an image of what I'm talking about, I'd be grateful). A quick search on Spotlight and I found some cute fabrics. Now I was cooking with gas!

The shops were already closed now so, I made a plan for the morning of the party. Nothing like a little pressure! For a pattern, I'd buy a cheap singlet in her size to use as a size guide and some leggings to go with the top. Then I'd go to Spotlight to buy the fabric and (if I have time) some elastic to make a matching scrunchie. I already have a large stash of ribbons (I pre-selected a couple of colours that I thought would suit), and set up all the sewing equipment. I had no time to waste!

First: The top. I found this singlet that was something she would wear anyway so it wouldn't go to waste.

Second: The fabric. In all honesty, I have no idea what the fabric was made from but, I just went into the local Spotlight and found one with an appropriate pattern that, when I rubbed the edge, it didn't fray. I only bought half a meter which was ample for this small size.

Now was the time to see if I could make this little girl's wish come true...

1. I started with laying out the fabric flat, then folding it in half so the pattern overlapped and then trimmed the end so that I had a nice straight edge along the bottom to start from. This was the bottom edge of the top.

2. I then measured left to right of the singlet, doubled the number and added on an extra 2cm for the seam. I used this measurement to cut a portion of the fabric (remove any of the white edging prior to doing this).

3. Then I laid the cut piece of fabric pattern side down with the shirt bottom in line with the bottom and center of the fabric. I used sewing chalk to trace the arm edges starting in line with the bottom of the neck dip and continued to the bottom of the arm hole on each side.

4. I then folded the fabric in half with the chalk lines on the outside. The chalk lines should be roughly in line with each other. I cut straight from the middle of the folded fabric to the top of the chalk lines (Front of Shirt Height), down the chalk lines and then straight to the end of the fabric (Back of Shirt Height). Below is an image of how I cut the fabric in comparison to the singlet.

5. I then pinned and sewed the two edges of the fabric with a zigzag stitch (best stitch for stretchy fabric) 1cm from the edge. This will give the top a single seam straight down the back.

6. Finally I sewed some 25cm cut lengths of ribbon to the front and back of the top to act as straps. This was the end result (I found out my scrunchie making skills are not up to scratch so I'll let you know when I work out that skill).

You know when a child is happy. Their eyes go wide and they forget how to talk. So I took the fact that all she could say was, "I want to put it on now" as a compliment 😂

Happy crafting!