Yesterday I shared my Mermaid Tail tutorial, and today I am going to share with you how to make the Water Skirt (a conceptual visual of the mermaid tale against water).
 
You will need:
4 yards of tulle (I purchased 1 yard of 3 shades (blue, turqoise, white), but should have down 4 shades)
1/2″ Elastic to fit around your child’s waist

Leaving your tulle folded in half as it came from the store, fold it in half again and again, then  start cutting out strips with the fold at the top.  I like to vary my widths, but this is up to you.
Once all your strips are cut you want to grab your piece of elastic and measure it around your child’s waist.  Since my daughter wasn’t available, I used a pair of her pants as a guide.

Sew the ends together to create a loop.

Grab a piece of tulle and with the fold at the top, take the two tails and put them through the fold loop and pull the tails through.  It is now securely attached to the elastic.  Continue over and over and over again, varying the shades of tulle used.  That’s it!  You’re Water Skirt is complete.

It is up to you to find a top for your Mermaid.  We had a dance costume that my daughter was given for dress up, so I cut of the tutu portion and she is wearing that with a long shirt underneath and some arm-warmers that I made out of a pair of toddler tights.  Prior to finding the dance costume to use I had thoughts of creating a band of fabric to go around her chest and gluing on sparkles and such or even a couple of real sea-shells and then sewing that onto a long-sleeved shirt… I’m sure there are lots of cool options.
 
Once you have your top on put on a pair of blue pants.  Next goes the water skirt, and last the tail.  The straps of the tail go through the belt loops on the pants and ties in the back.  Last put on your Water Cloak and you have transformed your little girl into a beautiful Mermaid.

We are also going to add bunch of faux-feather hair extensions to complete the ensemble.

Super easy, pretty inexpensive (the tail, water cloak and water skirt cost me $23 and could have been cheaper if I had measured prior to going and only bought 1 yard of lame and 1 yard of batting)!  I would love to see your mermaid costumes!