Never in a million years did I ever consider that I might someday make a mermaid or shark blanket…but I did!!! In fact, I made, not one, not two, not three, but FOUR mermaids and one shark.
Simplicity 8275 was just the pattern and it came with a matching doll sized pattern, so I made my two nieces a pair.
I swear I cut out sooooo many starfish….this blanket is adorable, but really….just skip the smallest size starfish in the pattern (or maybe only cut a few). The pattern actually has three sizes of starfish in it, so don’t feel like you have to use the smallest one only!
Small and medium sized starfish and appliques. Round white ones are bubbles.
Here are the finished blankets. I did add some ribbon trim to the top just to bling them up a little.
Let’s just say that between the starfish cutting and the sewing on, these blankets took far longer than I thought they would! To sew them on, you first stitched around the outside edges, then you stitched lines in the center to make it look like a starfish.
Detail of some of my first starfish!
But…I’m not easily deterred, so next up was the shark for my 7 year old nephew. I figured it had to be fast and easy after the mermaids and it was. The shark is AMAZING. I WANT ONE!!!!!!!! My nephew is about a half a foot taller than my oldest niece, so I did add some extra inches to the top of the blanket for him. His shark turned out perfectly awesome. I made it per the pattern except for the addition of the length, and I stitched down the facing at center front and center back. The pattern has you just stitch the facing in the ditch on the side seams, but I didn’t think that held it well enough.
If you make this pattern, make sure that you cut out 4 sets of side fins. My printed pattern only said to cut two. The diagram showed 4. Of course I didn’t realize it until I was trying to figure out how it went together and realized that I needed another side fin! Luckily, I had enough scraps that I could make it work. Cue the Jaws music!!
Amazing, right?!!! I love how the red peaks out! For the rick rack, I used the jumbo simplicity stuff on a spool that you buy. In my Joanns, it was back with the trims that have to be cut by the yard. The spool had just enough to go around the mouth. I had about 6″ left over. If I were making the adult one, I’d definitely get two spools.
Here’s to give a sense of how tall this is. I added 7 inches on and I’m about 5’6″.
Help me!!!!!! The shark is eating me!!!! This was before I stitched the facing down at CF and CB.
Both mermaids and sharks are amazing! The mermaids are a lot of work…but you can make it easier on yourself by either skipping the appliques all together or maybe just putting a few on. The shark is AWESOME!
Happy Sewing!
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