“Mom! I love it! You’re a fat mermaid!”
DIY Modest Mermaid costume using supplies from JOANN | DIY Mermaid Costume by popular Utah sewing blogger, Kara Metta: image of a woman standing in the sand next to some water and wearing a mermaid costume made out of fabric from the Ya Ya Han collection at Joann's.

Special thanks to JOANN Fabrics for partnering with me on this DIY mermaid costume post. While I was compensated to share on my social media channels, I was not compensated to post this on my blog.  I just thought it was pretty fun and wanted to share it with you!

“Mom! I love it! You’re a fat mermaid!”

That was my son’s response to this costume. I was dying with laughter. Pregnant mermaids might not really be a thing, but I sure had fun making this ensemble! I was inspired by the sweet new fabrics that JOANN Stores are currently carrying under their YaYa Han Collection.  I also liked the challenge of making the whole pregnant-mermaid thing work.  People thought I was crazy, and I kind of was, but the end turned out pretty fun in my opinion.

DIY Modest Mermaid costume using supplies from JOANN | DIY Mermaid Costume by popular Utah sewing blogger, Kara Metta: image of a woman standing in the sand next to some water and wearing a seashell crown and mermaid costume made out of fabric from the Ya Ya Han collection at Joann's.

I made two different versions of this diy mermaid costume–one for really festive parties, and a more casual one I’ll probably be wearing most of the time.  The best part about these costumes is that they work just as well for maternity as non-maternity.  (Though you might want a different phrase on your t-shirt if you’re not pregnant.)

DIY Mermaid Costume

For this specific project, I used three different fabrics from Yaya’s line:

I used the this pattern for the skirt, and this one for the top.  I made a few alterations to accommodate my pregnant belly, but the stretch factor of the fabric made this relatively easy.

DIY Modest Mermaid costume using supplies from JOANN | DIY Mermaid Costume by popular Utah sewing blogger, Kara Metta: image of a woman standing in the sand next to some water and wearing a mermaid costume made out of fabric from the Ya Ya Han collection at Joann's.

I also picked up some shells and knick-knacks while I was there to make a mermaid crown to complete the look (tutorial to come).

DIY mermaid costume. Doesn't have to be  | DIY Mermaid Costume by popular Utah sewing blogger, Kara Metta: image of a woman standing in the sand next to some water and wearing a seashell crown and mermaid costume made out of fabric from the Ya Ya Han collection at Joann's.

For more casual Halloween events, I made a t-shirt using my Cricut machine to cut out the phrase “SEAriously Pregnant” next to an image of a pregnant mermaid.  I designed it using Canva, which is a free online design tool. You can get all the cricut supplies I used from JOANN as well—they’ve got ya covered.

DIY Modest Mermaid costume using supplies from JOANN | DIY Mermaid Costume by popular Utah sewing blogger, Kara Metta: image of a woman standing in the sand next to some water and wearing a mermaid costume made out of fabric from the Ya Ya Han collection at Joann's.
Overall, I’m pretty excited about how this turned out, but mostly just relieved that it will continue to stretch as I do in the upcoming months. Halloween is going to be pretty fun this year.

What do you think about this DIY mermaid costume?  Is this something you would try making and wearing?  Let me know in a comment below!