Oh Deer ~ is it Christmas!

As some of you be aware, this year kiddilicious has been sitting on the back burner due to a year full of illnesses & sadness.
Well as the year is nearing to an end I'm doing my best to put the year behind me & move onwards & upwards.  With this in mind I've dug deep to try & find some of that lost mo-sew & get back some of that inner inspiration; and what better season to do that, but Christmas.

So modifying my original Dolls and Daydreams  Pattern, I created the spirit of Christmas with my Oh Deer Christmas Reindeer's.   Here's a little clip of them bringing on their Christmas Cheer.  What do you think?
You can find out more about the kiddilicious reindeers & stay up to date with the latest happenings by clicking here: Kiddilicious

Here's a line up of my girls

And now my gorgeous boys

I am also happy to report that all Reindeer's have  been happily adopted out & the feedback has been that all deer's have been very well received & they are all behaving themselves.  

Merry Chriistmas

Love Kiddilicious xx

Tutorial for the Princess Jasmine Top

To answer a request on how I made the top for my Princess Jasmine Top I have put together a rough description of how I went about it..  I hope that this can help you out.

  

My fabric choice was a gorgeous satin with a matching sequin fabric in the same colour.
I used some really rough measurements & a lot of guessing to put this top together.  So please remember that the measurement I give & use in the below are only a guide. They were suitable for my child but for a good fit be sure to measure up your child so that they will be correct & well fitting for you.

So to start off  I measured my daughters chest & then I added some measurements to the width of that amount again so that I'd have some gather.
So for example:
Chest measures: 60cm (23.5inches)
Extra (for gathering): 28cm (11inches)
Add seam allowance: 2cm (3/4 inch) x2

60cm + 28cm + 4cm =  92cm (36 1/4 Inches) This will be your Width.

As for your length, this too will be what suits your own child's measurements & whether you'd like to make a midriff like me or a full length top .

For my child's midriff top the cut out length was 25cm (9 3/4 inches) This included the seam allowance.

You'll now have a rectangular fabric piece which will become your top.

Now find the middle of your rectangle, you can do this by folding your fabric piece in half width wise.  Once you have the middle, cut your fabric in half so that you now have a two pieces, a front & a back.

Now to cut out your sequin fabric.  I chose to have the sequins to only cover the front piece of fabric.  For this, simply re-measure the width of you main satin piece & cut in accordance.  As for the length of the sequin fabric I chose to cut it a little shorter.  So for example my sequin fabric measured 48cm  (19 inches) wide & 11cm (4 1/4 inches) in length. 

Once you have your satin piece & sequin pieces cut out, lay you front piece down (face up) the then place your sequin fabric on top (face up).  I like to leave an even amount of satin fabric poking out at the top & the bottom.  This makes it easier for shirring the fabric later on.  For my top I have 7cm of satin fabric on the top & the same for the bottom.  Once you have worked this out & got it laying correctly, Pin the sequin fabric in place & then sew, sewing as close to the edge as the fabric allows. (Please Note: The sequin fabric I chose a fabric that doesn't fray).

Once your sequin fabric has been sewn into place, get your back piece & place it on top of your front piece Right sides together.  

Sew a 2cm seam down each side seam.

And then serge your side seam edges.

Your rectangular piece is now sewn as a tube.

At this point I like to hem the top & bottom of the top.  You can do this several ways:

1. Serge around the top & bottom & then fold over (inwards) 2cm (3/4 inch). Press with a hot iron & then sew into place.

2. Or you can fold over 1/4 inch & press & then turn over again 3/4 inch, press & then sew into place.

3. Hem with a hemming foot attachment if your machine has one.

Once your top has been hemmed top & bottom it's time to shirr in the elastic.  Shirr around the whole top, front & back.

I shirr 3 rows of elastic into both the top & bottom of the top starting 2cm (6/8 inch) down.  Use your sewing foot as a guide when sewing.

Here is a link to a quick tutorial on shirring if you are unsure on it or haven't done it before...Shirring really is easy once you get the hang of it.  How to Shirr Fabric

Shirring Guide

Your tubular top will now be taking form & the top & bottom will bunched up with the shirring. 

At this point I like to go over the shirring with the steam iron.  The steam from the iron will help shrink the shirred elastic giving it a tighter look.  

Now for the shoulder traps:

I cut 2 strips of the satin fabric out at 47cm (18 1/2 inches) Long & 7cm (2 6/8 inches) wide.  For hemming the edges I've used my sewing machines hemming foot which sews the tiniest hems of about 1/4 inch.  If you do not have this attachment for you machine I would suggest cutting your fabric piece an extra 1cm (3/8) wider so that you can turn your hem piece under 1/4 inch twice & then press & sew into place.

Once your hems are sewn on both sides cut  2  equal lengths of sequin fabric approximately 1.5cm (1 inch) wide.

Now set your machine back to shirring mode & place your elastic bobbin back into your machine.

Starting 1.5cm (4/8 inch) down, start shirring your shoulder trap right along to the end. Turn & shirr back down to the start again.  But this time keep the shirring much closer together, about 0.5cm (3/8 inch).

Now you have 2 rows of shirring.  On the 3rd row, grab your strip of sequin fabric & shirr that into place as you go along.  Once your at the end..back stitch & finish off.   Repeat for your second shoulder trap.

Finish off the ends of straps with your serger & then give your shirring a burst with your steam iron.

Now pop your Princess Top onto your child & pin your shoulder straps in the best suitable position.  With the straps being shirred it means they can be worn over the shoulder or off the shoulder.  Once you've found the best position, carefully remove the top (without pinning your child) & sew into place.....And Wah Lah!!!  Your Done...One Easy & Gorgeous Princess Top that your child will play dress ups in over & over again.   

Happy Sewing

Love Inge

Disney ~ Princess Jasmine Costume

My Daughter Bella was invited to a Disney Princess Party during the Christmas School Holiday Break.  And the invitation read to come dressed as your favourite Princess.   Now my children LOVE to dress up but do you think that we had a Princess Costume in sight...Nope!!!!  Of course, then when Bella was asked which Princess she would like to be, she said "Princess Jasmine".   With time running out & no sign of a Princess Jasmine costume in sight & no time left to purchase on-line,  it was up to me to use my imagination to come up with one.  Firstly I scouted through etsy for a handmade PDF pattern that I could have emailed to me within 24 hours, all to no avail.  I proceed to google everything I could think of to come up with a free pattern or any ideas on how to go about making one (see I'm not really up with the characters : : / )...& yet still, all to no avail.  I did however find a couple of blogs showing off their own wonderful handmade Princess Jasmine costume. Many thanks to those pages, I did enjoy looking at others creations & becoming totally side tracked...LOL   Of course I suppose I could of always bought a generic pattern from the local fabric store but I wanted a little more than that. And secretly just between you & me...."I think I like a challenge".   So off to dream land it was.....& the drawing board.   Bella said she absolutely wanted her belly button showing otherwise the costume just wouldn't be right.  Well that actually made things a little easier for me.  What I came up with was in the end was extremely basic but I think totally effective.  And this is one you too can easily make your self.  So if enough interest is shown I will work on putting up a tutorial.  But remember not to hide in the background.  Comments & Questions are always more than welcome.  And don't forget I'd love to see you follow kiddilicious' blog & facebook page.  I like to know that I'm not just talking to myself...LOL

So anyways with out boring you all anymore...here's my version of the Princess Jasmine Costume:  I think it would also look super cool as a Genie's Costume too.

The finished costume with one happy & proud little girl

Here's a look at the back

A closer look at the top & headband

A closer look at the detail of the top & pants with the chiffon overlay skirt. 

So there it is.  I hope you like it as much as what we do.

Kiddilicious xx

Rompers In Season

This season ~ Summer 2011/2012 (southern hemisphere) our department stores & boutiques seem to be teaming to the bream with the gorgeous one piece romper suit.  And why not I say...they're fun, cool & comfortable. So how lucky was I when I stumbled across a fabulous etsy store that sold totally gorgeous handmade patterns. HEAVEN!!!  I love ALL of Alisha's patterns & you can find them here at pinkpoodlebows


Here is one of Pink Poodle Bows Patterns that I made.  Of course I had to add some extra touches to make it more my own & give it that vintage feel.  Here's my Daughter wearing the latest Romper:

This represent so much of Kiddilicious & I just love it.  You can see more of these that I have made on my kiddilicious facebook page.  So be sure to pop on over, I'd love to see you there.

Kiddilicious xx

Christmas Kiddilicious Style

Well it's another year over and again I can't believe how fast the time is flying by....slow day world before I want to get off....


Anyways I thought I'd like to share with you Christmas at our house & show you a bit of the kiddilicious style...So hold on and here we go.

So first of all we need our tree.  Nothing over the top here & I keep it the same every year.  No fancy keeping up with the trends or anything like that.  What we do have is my little family traditions instead, starting with each year my 3 children receive a new Christmas Ornament to place on the tree.  They'll get to take these with them when they start a family.  And then there is my crazy obsession  with the ever so ugly Nutcrackers.  I don't what it is about these guys but I love them to bits....maybe it's guilt as when I was a child I hated them & was so afraid that I didn't even like to look at them.  My daughter hasn't got the same fear....she can't seem to get enough of them & treats them like her babies....hahahaha

Above are a few more of my little treasures.  The gorgeous star wish was handmade for me by a beautiful friend of mine & I dearly treasure it.

And here is my dinning table all set for our delicious Champagne Breakfast. 

I'm still loving traditional colours too.

Christmas Eve

The Ginger Cupcake & Milk are excitably left for Santa

The stocking are ready to be filled

 Gee hope the reindeer's aren't going to fight over this one & only carrot

Christmas Morning

Hmmmm looks like the reindeer's enjoyed their lonely carrot...but gee they're messy

 Oh YES!!!  The Stockings are full

And the tree is surrounded in gifts.

This is the part I LOVE the most....the aftermath.  It's the best part of any Christmas.  Watching the kids rip open their gifts & throw it aside to move onto the next.  It only took 2 days to tidy up and it was all worth it because look at what we topped the day off with......

My delicious homemade pavlova 

I hope that you too were able to enjoy a beautiful Christmas with the people that make your life special.  And Thanks for sharing in mine.

Kiddilicious xx