Buzzmills

Easter Crafts Roundup...

Easter is just around the corner...We've pulled down our St. Patrick's Day decor and we've put up our bunnies, chicks and all things Spring.  My Easter dress is already made and I've been working on Easter outfits for the kids and contemplating a tie for my husband.  There are some Easter bunnies in the process as well.  But, one thing we've been missing...

Easter crafting! 

With all of the sewing, plus some other behind the scenes sewing, there hasn't been much Easter crafting.  I'm sure there will be a bit over Spring break which is actually after Easter, it still counts, right!  Anywho, in case you aren't quite as far behind as I and are looking for some Easter crafting ideas, here's a roundup of some past Easter crafts...

Polymer clay Easter Animals...

Felt Easter Baskets...

Easter Egg maracas (so much fun!)...

Anything bunny... from pillowcases (using this fabric)...

to raglan tees...

Speaking of bunnies...these bunny ears are always a hit!

And, after you dye your eggs... you could always make a beautiful mobile out of your egg carton...

Still need some more ideas?  Here's my roundup from last year...

Bunny ears, washi tape eggs, felted bird nest headband, mini bunnies, mini chicks, bunny egg cozies, felt flowers, felt daffodils, painted paper mache eggs, felted egg

I'm hoping to squeeze in a little Easter crafting in some way, but for now our house is pretty well decorated and there are certainly plenty of bunnies, chicks and sheep for all, so we shall see. 

Happy weekend to you!

Spring Green...

Happy First Day of Spring!  Hooray for Spring, warm mosquitoless days filled with bright and cheerful bulbs and buzzing bees. 

Every year, after the ice and snow and gray of winter, the green of Spring is such a cheerful sight!

Well, truthfully, these three green outfits were in fact made for the Winter, St. Patrick's Day specifically, but with the dreams of Spring...

When I realized that none of us had any green to wear for St. Patrick's day (sadly these pants no longer fit Violet and are still too big for Henry) I thought I'd run out to the store and simply grab something green for us each to wear...and then, as I was running a quick errand at the fabric store, I noticed a huge amount of green knit in the $3/yard section... So, of course I thought, I'll just make something for much less money, and cuter...

For myself I made another Skippy dress from Make it Perfect.  This time around I trimmed the pattern down to make the XS which seems perfect!  I didn't want a fully green dress so I added a bit of strawberries into the mix using Heather Ross knit from Finch Sewing Studio...

Let's pretend that the strawberries are facing the right direction on the back (oops!)

After looking at these pictures I realized that I look a bit like a little kid in this dress...but hey, I love it, so I don't really care.

Of course, after Violet saw my first Skippy dress, she was jealous and wished she had one of her own...HA, the tables have turned, usually it's the other way around.  To be fair, I did purchase the Joey pattern before the Skippy so I guess I owed her...

I didn't want to make our dresses super duper matchy, but figured a little bit matchy wouldn't be the end of the world...It's not as though we will end up wearing them together very often.  Although, I did feel a tiny bit silly during school pickup/drop off.

Ahem, please excuse those darn upside down strawberries again!  Apparently they have a mind of their own!

Anywho, Violet, like me, proclaimed this dress the most comfortable dress ever!

She, too, wants some more!

And, last but not least, Henry...

Henry scored a super sweet raglan tee (from Sewing for Boys) for his green.  His shirt includes fabrics from several of my recent sews for me including this dress and this cardigan.

I added the little golden triangle at the top (inspired by Kristin) as his little "pot o'gold.

And to tie it all together, and because he likes himself a cuffed sleeve...some golden cuffs as well...

He loves the fact that his shirt has gold on it!  He also love the fact that the shirt is crazy soft and comfy! 

So, there you have it, three green "Leprechaun" outfits for less than $15!  And, some happy and goofy kiddos...

Hope you enjoyed your St. Patrick's Day and Happy Spring to you too!

Simple Baby Gifts to Make and Give...

Oh how I love sewing and making little tiny baby things, and I know I'm not the only one! 

You might remember last year (almost exactly) when a group of bloggy friends gathered together to throw our friends Carla and Lacy a virtual baby shower.  Well, as it turns out, our fearless leader (Amy of This Heart of Mine) for that shower just had her third child and now we are showering her with love and baby gifts!Amy mentioned that her older children gave the new baby boy a sweet little nickname...Pipsqueak Shadow, which I think is absolutely adorable!  What a sweet and perfect little nickname.  So, to start I thought I'd give him his own little personalized nickname gown...

A freezer paper stenciled PS (Pipsqueak) with a "drop shadow"...Simple and sweet, plus I like the little extra added fun meaning, post scriptum, to the family...

And, of course, what's a baby gift without a hat?  I mean, baby hats, I love them!

This little fox hat is made using my favorite little super easy and speedy baby hat pattern.  I really just love babies in hats, all kids really, and plus it's important to keep those little heads warm and toasty!

And, last but not least, a sweet little bib, because let's face it, you can never have to many of those!

Red shetland flannel (leftover from these Hosh pants and these pillows) on the front because, it's incredibly soft and because Amy loves red and organic terry cloth for the back because this stuff is amazing!  I used this bib pattern because it's really just the right size for young babes and, added a little fox heart applique to the front just because...

And just like that a sweet, simple and personalized new baby gift...

And to wrap it, I rolled it all up and tucked them neatly into one of my fabric scrap bowls ...

because you can always use a little something to toss a little something into, right...

But, while making for babies is super fun to do, I mean the itty bittyness of them?!  I didn't want to leave out mama.  For Amy I simply wrapped up a pretty blue no-sew knit scarf like this one to send along...

Perfect for the Spring time and for a little privacy while nursing if so desired...

And, last, but certainly not least...

Into this tiny red suitcase I dropped a few little goodies for the big kids so that they don't feel left out, but also to give them some little small things to do when they just need a quiet moment to themselves...

Now, all I've got to do is pack it all up and send it out...

Amy and her family have a ton going on right now, between a new baby and a move and more... Here's hoping these small tokens help to keep the smile on their faces...and hoping that their transitions of growth and new beginnings are smooth...

This Baby of Mine is a virtual shower for our dear friend Amy of This Heart of Mine.  We wanted to shower her with love and congratulations on her newest addition even though we live all over the country.  Our posts are full of great ideas for sending love and help to a friend with a new baby, even when you live far away.

One More Selfish Sewing Week Make...

First, I have to say, I've totally been bitten!  By the "selfish sewing bug" that is.  I managed to sew five pieces of clothing (including today's outfit) for myself over the past week and I've still got plans (perhaps not time though) for more.  I'm loving all of my new makes.

Today's outfit is all about mustard, the color, not the condiment! 

I knew that I might need a little something to toss over my Marigold dress lest it be chilly on Easter, so I planned to make a Julia Cardigan with the same mustard ponte de roma  (from Rachael's shop) that I used for my sash.  And then, I recently saw Laura's Julia with the piping and I knew instantly that I wanted to copy it! 

This is my first time making the Julia and I totally love it.  I love the way the collar swoops around to the back (although, through no fault of the pattern, I had a terrible time getting it all lined up) ...

especially with the piping...

I do regret one thing, that I became so enamored with Laura's piping that I didn't read on to see her recommendation to do the double fold option.  I do love my Julia, but in hindsight wish I had made the double fold version.  Anywho, the weight of the ponte gives the cardigan a nice sophisticated, almost blazer-like, feel to it.  

It's the perfect pairing with jeans...

(Excuse me as I bask in the light of the sun!)

But it also pairs perfectly with a skirt too!

The skirt is the lotta skirt  from Compagnie M.  If you follow me on Instagram you might remember seeing a peek of this before.  It was meant to be my "muslin" for my other lotta but, in the end I bailed on the muslin idea because I was running out of time.  And, just by chance, I happened to see it's pieces piled up on a shelf moments after I finished my mustard Julia.  It turns out that they are a perfect match for each other...

This lotta was the same size as my previous one so I knew it was going to be too big, but the pockets had already been sewn and I didn't really want to start all over again...so I increased the seam allowance and skipped the zipper this time.  Instead I added elastic to the back of the waist band so that I could adjust the waist as needed...I like the way it turned out in the end, but next time I will definitely cut a smaller size in the pattern.  

The fabric is Leah Duncan (one of my favorites!) Gramercy Brownstones.  I just love the little brownstones all in a row, they remind me of our NYC days...

And, the little pops of color on the pocket... liberty lifestyle fabric scraps (one of my favorites as well!) leftover from this dress and this bag...

And there it is...a mustardy outfit that I didn't even really know I was sewing, but love it just the same! 

The only "problem" is that it feels a bit Autumnish rather than Springy...there are worse problems to have, right.

All in all I'd say it was a pretty successful Selfish Sewing Week and I don't really want to stop!

Lucky Pot of Gold...

The other week we purchased a few little tiny glass bottles and jars in the $1 section at Target.  Once home, we began to brainstorm what we were going to do with them.  And then, after hearing a Martin & Sylvia Sparkle Story about leprechauns, we all decided that we would turn them into tiny pots of gold...

Tiny pots of gold M&Ms that we will secretly deliver to the doorsteps of friends and neighbors...

A little bit of luck...

(download Shamrock template)

Delivered via tiny little leprechaun hands and topped off with a tiny little rainbow too...

We hope they enjoy their sweet lucky leprechaun treat!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!