Finished: Mermaid Inspired Skirt!

Once a year, every June, something magical happens in Coney Island...

Maybe not exactly magical, but a group of people have decided that mermaids and sea creatures and other mythological beings (which the streets in Coney Island are named after) should have their own themed parade and thus, the Mermaid Parade was born.

Via Instagram

I recommend googling the parade to check out some of the costumes because my pictures do NOT do these costumes justice, but only do so at home as it's legal to be topless in NYC and a lot of the women exercise that right. Also a lot of the men barely cover themselves as well. Either way, google at home.

So I wanted to dress up, but since I didn't want to go all out and/or buy new fabric, I was at a bit of a loss. In fact, I was a bit down in the dumps and even uttered that I might not dress up after all... 

That terrible idea was quickly thrown out but since I only had one free day to sew, I needed something quick and instead of it being mermaid, it needed to be mermaid inspired.

As I only had a day, I decided to forgo making a top and just wear my swimsuit. I had some icky brown jersey in the shape of a long rectangle that I decided I could work with for the bottom. I envisioned a mermaid skirt, but shorter. And high waisted since I'm terrified of cropped tops.

Anyway, after 3 hours on my serger, I think I ended up with something pretty fantastic! I cut two squares out of the rectangle and angled them a bit so they would fit my waist. I cut out two strips to create a waistband. I was worried about the ruffles, especially since I didn't want to switch to my sewing machine AND switch out the thread color. (Yes, I'm that lazy.)

Luckily I figured out how you can make ruffles on your serger and then suddenly it was done!

I was going to do my hair and make-up like I did in these photos, but my hair wouldn't cooperate in time for me to leave. I was then planning on doing my hair in the bathroom after brunch on the boardwalk, but the wind was killer that day so I just pulled it back.

I went with Naomi and she scored us these awesome seats so we were shaded the whole time and had the best view. (Hint: In case you can't spot us, try looking on top of the ticket booth.)

Via Tristan Lamour

I've never made anything this quickly before, and I'm generally pleased with how it came out. In fact, I'll have a tutorial up on it soon - so keep an eye out if you're interested in making one of your own!

My tutorial is now up - check it out and let me know what you think!