I made this MerBarbie for a craftster
swap. I wasn't actually a part of the swap, but one girl was a victim of a flaker so
I swooped in to save the day. Barbie Mermaid style.
So, right, the point of the swap was to remake a Barbie and my partner liked fantasy type
creatures such as mermaids and fairies. Let me assure you that I made this with no
knowledge of that frickin' "Mermaidia" barbie. I was so proud of myself
for choosing a mermaid over a fairy since there was already that "Fairytopia"
barbie. I even boasted about this choice to my little boy who just shook his head sadly at
me and then called me over to the tv at the next frickin' "Mermaidia"
commercial. Sigh.
I got several Barbies from Thrift Town (or Thriftopia, if you're being Barbiefied.) and commenced ripping their legs off. The first Barbie had a really pretty face (some of them are just god-awful ugly) but a weird highlight in her hair that wouldn't hold the purple dye (just plain old RIT from the supermarket). Her head is now hanging in our front bathroom.
The second one didn't have a moveable waist, but I tore her legs off anyway so my son and his friend could have a Barbie parts war. The third Barbie had a big stupid battery pack in her back, but her hair took the dye and she had a moveable waist. And she was my last Barbie.
While her hair was still wet I coiled it up into a bunch of twisty snakes and pinned up all the coils. She sat in my bathroom for several days, and every once in a while I'd aim the hair dryer at her head.
When I took the coils out, it made a really pretty perm. I shook it pretty violently and the curls held, but I was afraid to brush it.
Her shell boob covers are made out of sparkly polymer clay, and her tiara is craft wire and glass seed beads.
The fin was pretty hard, since I'm not a great sewer. I pretty much just laid her
legless corpse on a piece of paper and drew what I wanted the fin to look like below her.
Then I cut it out a little bigger for seam allowance. The bottom flaired fin is a
separate piece.
I sewed the pieces on the machine, leaving the waist part open, then I handstitched it
onto her very tightly.
I stuffed the fins and did the embroidery last. It's mostly French knots which I love.