Okay, so my friend James had a birthday a few months ago. He wanted everyone to go to Smuggler’s Cove, a piratey rum bar with a bajillion different rums and crazy mixed drinks inspired by different continents. It sounds really cheezy, but the drinks were actually pretty interesting and quite delicious!
The night before James’ bday party, Manda and I still didn’t have pirate costumes. I was really struggling with putting an outfit together from things I already owned. We went to the mall and tried to find pieces we’d use again in our regular wardrobe, but I still couldn’t get with the pirate program. Finally, Manda said, “You don’t have to be a pirate. You could be the mermaid.” EUREKA!!! Hence, the crocheted mermaid costume was born (after trying a few really bad pairs of green skinny jeans.) Here’s a really really REALLY poor quality phone-cam photo of me before leaving the house.
My quick-n-dirty mermaid outfit came out pretty cute, so I thought I’d share the shell bikini pattern with you. I will warn you: it’s not great. I didn’t create the pattern with the intention of sharing it or selling it. I was really just trying to make myself a quick outfit. But maybe you guys will get a kick out of it, too, and use it as a foundation for a really awesome ensemble.
Essentially, I just made two giant seashell “patches,” hot glued some see-through, bubble-like beads to the surface, and I tacked the shells down to an aqua blue dress with a few stitches here and there, so that I could cut the dress free afterwards. I also crocheted a starfish hair piece, hot glued gold beads to the top, and hot glued some small pearl strings to the back. I made the hair piece mere minutes before we had to leave, so I didn’t write a pattern for it. Plus, I can’t find the pattern for an afghan that I used as a guide, so you may want to search for some other free star fish patterns out there, like this one.
Now that I’ve made this sound like the worst free pattern ever …….. onto the free pattern!
Remember, I made these for myself. They are BIG cuz it just ended up that way, so this probably wouldn’t fit children. You could use a lighter weight yarn than Red Heart Super Saver to get some smaller shells.
I used an H hook and Red Heart Super Saver in a light pink color, as well as white for accents.
I made 4 shells, since I wanted my shells to be sturdy, so each shell is actually 2 shells sewn together.
Abbreviations:
ch(s) = chain(s)
dc = double crochet
hdc = half double crochet
htr = half triple crochet
sc = single cochet
sk = skip
st(s) = stitch(es)
( ) = work everything inside the parentheses into the next stitch
[ ] = repeat everything inside the brackets the number of times indicated
With Pink,
Ch 13
1) Sk 1st st and work 12 sc cvenly across. (12)
2-3) Ch 1, turn. Work 12 sc evenly across. (12)
4) Ch 1, turn.[(2 sc), sc] 6 times. (18)
5-6) Ch 2, turn. Work 18 hdc evenly across. (18)
7) Ch 2, turn. [(2 hdc), 2 hdc] 6 times. (24)
8-10) Ch 2, turn, Work 24 hdc evenly across. (24)
11-14) Ch 2, turn. hdc2t0g, hdc2tog, (2 hdc), hdc, (2 hdc), 10 hdc, (2 hdc), hdc, (2 hdc), hdc2tog, hdc2tog. (24)
15) Ch 1, turn. [Sk 1 st, sc] 2 times, sk 1 st, (2 hdc), 13 hdc, (2 hdc), [Sk 1 st, sc] 2 times. (21)
16) Ch 1, turn. [Sk 1st st, sc] 2 times, hdc, [ hdc, (dc, htr), (htr, dc), hdc] 3 times, sk 1 st, sc, sk 1 st, sl st. Break off.
Use white to surface chain white lines on the shell. After working a 2nd shell (no white lines needed on this one), you can sl st or surface chain your two shells together with white, which also creates a nice border.
Repeat to make your second shell.
* This pattern is intended for your personal use only and not for creating items to sell. Please do not sell this pattern or re-post it without my permission.
P.s. If you find any errors or weird spots, please let me know! This is an un-tested pattern.
