Unexpected Sewing Interruption

Life has a habit of throwing a curve ball into the best laid plans.

I had an upcoming work trip and wanted to make a pencil skirt and a pair of pants before leaving so that I would have something to wear. I also wanted to finish my eyelet Cambie.  Oh, and all of this would be magically accomplished within a week and a half.

I'm rolling my eyes at myself now for even thinking that this was possible, even in ideal conditions.

Unfortunately due to a death in the family, plus planning for my business trip and extra end of quarter wrap up activities at work, sewing and blogging have taken a back seat.

How about a picture of Kiko to make up for the lack of sewing pictures these past weeks?

We'll return to our regularly scheduled eyelet Cambie progress later this week. For now, I want to concentrate on a few simple projects where I can have a sense of accomplishment with minimal effort. I've tried to squeeze in sewing time wherever I could because it really does help keep my mind off of things and relax.  Surprisingly, I've completed a lot and hope to have a chance to catch up with blogging about it in the next few days.  Let's start with this:

This was from a recent Fabric.com purchase. Beautiful, isn't it.  I was seriously tempted to steal this for myself. I'm certain this is quilting cotton, but has a great texture and drape and think would work well in a garment.

But I behaved and used the fabric for what it was actually destined for, Butterick B5125.  This is the retro apron from "The List" that I wanted to make for my mom.  Her birthday is coming up next weekend and my plan was to sew this apron for her and also have my old sewing machine fixed up for her to use.  With everything going on, I haven't had the chance to bring the machine to the shop, but I was able to complete the apron:

I modified the pattern by adding a second ruffle to the bottom, shortening the top layer by an inch. My mom has been admiring some retro aprons with multiple layers of ruffles, so I wanted to replicate that for her.

What I love about project like this is that it's quick, satisfying, and I can experiment with fabric that I normally wouldn't purchase. I can't wait to give it to her!