Fantasy Mermaid Costume

Having just moved to Florida my mother in law (recently of late) wanted badly for me to be a mermaid. After several days of research I decided a mermaid style dress would be the best plan for the outfit. You wouldnt think it but it is hard to find the perfect material, lol. I came across a reversible blue and purple sequin material on etsy. Now came the fun part! Not having a pattern to go by I started by taking all my measurements and drawing them out on the material then cutting it out. Sewing it all by hand to make it extra special be sure to make tight stitches and the sequins are laid flat so they dont permanently stick out. The bottom part was the funnest! I took three colors of tulle to give it a more depth color of blues and purples like the real ocean is. The coral I found the material at hobby lobby, traced and cut out from a stencil I made. The fish and sea creatures I started with felt once again tracing and cuttting out from cardboard stencils I free drew. Then I used hotfix crystals to make all the details for the fish, jellyfish, turtles, seahorses, dolphins,etc. Warning: This is very time consuming. On average I spent 30-45min per sea animal/creature. The last touch was the crown. Starting with a banana clip I gound some shells and starfish from a local shell shop and hotglued them into my favorite pattern. Not knowing that this would be the last outfit she asked me to make, I hope I made my late mother in law proud. I hope you have fun if you decide to recreate this amazing costume! Total cost was around $150 and time was roughly 2 months to make.