Hi Reader,

Did you read the mid-August Snappy Scissors newsletter?

In it, I shared the results of a survey I sent to my readers several months ago.

I explained how the survey results supported one of the directions I wanted to take The Ruffled Purse, which is to provide solutions for transforming fabric stashes, unfinished projects, and creative overwhelm into a fulfilling sewing life.

To make sure I'm on the right track with what I'm creating, I asked last month's readers to reply to that email and let me know if the survey results and my current work resonated with their own sewing life.

So many responses came into my inbox. I intended to reply to each one, but time got away from me.

Almost everyone who replied said the survey results sounded very much like their own sewing life.

Many shared stories, examples of their current situations, solutions that worked and didn't work for them, and photos of quilts and other projects they have worked on.

Several people told me they thought they were alone with the problem of wanting to sew but not doing it.

And there were a couple of replies where readers said the survey results and having a large stash didn't describe them at all, but they explained other challenges they were facing.

Hundreds of initial survey results, along with all the replies I received last month, provide the support and evidence I need to move forward with The Sewing Rhythm™.

This is the name I've given to the work that I created over the past few months and am currently testing.

If you would like to learn more about the Sewing Rhythm™, click HERE. You'll be added to a special email list where I'll share behind-the-scenes looks with you once or twice a month until it's ready in November. The first email will be going out this weekend.

A mantra

Do you find that the holidays sneak up on you, leaving you with little to no time to do fun, themed projects you have held on to for years?

Usually it's Christmas projects I push from year to year, but now, there are a couple of Halloween projects I would love to complete before October 31.

I'm deep in the weeds of planning the upcoming Conquer Your Fabric Scraps Summit, and I'm so excited about how it's all coming together.

It would be very easy to put off the 2 Halloween projects until next year, but I'm not going to.

The processes I'll be teaching in the Sewing Rhythm™ are built around the idea of sewing becoming a part of everyday life.

This doesn't mean that you have to sew every day. It means that if you have the time and energy, you move projects forward.

I've adopted a mantra for this: Sew Now. Not Someday.

Working on the Scrap Summit energizes me. It's work I love to do. But I also love sewing and have spent way too much of my life putting off the sewing and quilting projects I want to do.

No more.

The Halloween projects may not get finished, but they will be a lot farther along than if I didn't work on them at all.

What projects have you been putting off?

I encourage you to join me and Sew Now. Not Someday.

Coloring fabric

During Friday quilt group, my friend Alene was adding some hand embroidery to some very colorful witches.

When I asked her what she was working on, she laid out the embroidery on the table so I could see it.

She explained she was making a table runner. She was using Panel 1 from The Mystery of the Salem Witches Quilt Guild pattern by Meg Hawkey at Crabapple Hill Studio.

Unfortunately, Crabapple Hill Studio closed in October of 2025 when Meg retired, and patterns are no longer being printed or produced.

Alene had the panel template with her and let me borrow it. (This is one of the Halloween projects I'm working on.)

The template is transferred to fabric using a shadow box or window and a .01 or .02 brown Pigma pen. Then you color the witches with crayons or colored pencils and outline everything with embroidery floss.

However, it's not the pattern I wanted to share with you; it's the coloring on fabric technique.

When I searched online, I found several videos on how to do this technique. The one I really liked was How to Colour Applique Designs by Kim Jamieson-Hirst from Chatterbox Quilts.

She explained everything you need to know about coloring on fabric, but she did it through the lens of coloring appliqué templates instead of using fabric to make them.

Her demonstration doesn't include hand embroidery, but that can be easily added using basic stitches and following the drawn lines.

If you like hand embroidery, coloring, and the look of some appliqué templates but aren't a huge fan of appliqué techniques, this type of project might be right up your alley.

Witch's hat

Last October, I attended a guild meeting where the speaker was wearing a witch's hat made out of fabric scraps. She presented a trunk show on the different ways she used fabric scraps, and she received a LOT of questions about her hat.

She briefly explained how she made a pattern from a deconstructed witch's hat she had picked up at a dollar store, and sewed scraps together to make pieces of fabric large enough for the hat.

I was so impressed and knew I wanted to make one. At the time of the guild meeting, it was a week before Halloween, and I couldn't find a witch's hat anywhere.

The day before Halloween 2025, my husband and I went into a pop-up costume store hoping to find a witch's hat, and we did!

It wasn't hanging on any hook or displayed with other hats. It had fallen on the ground and slid under a rack of costumes. It must have been waiting for me.

There was no way I would be able to make the hat in time for trick-or-treaters, so I told myself, "I'll do it next year."

Over time, the hat became buried under a bunch of other "someday" projects and fabric.

On August 23, 2026, I got the weekly Sunday Stitch newsletter from Melissa of the Polka Dot Chair. The subject line said, "It's Time to Start the Spooky Stitching."

When I opened the newsletter, I saw that she had a pattern for a quilted witch hat.

Instead of trying to find last year's witch's hat and pull it apart, I purchased the pattern.

My next step is to make the fabric for it out of scraps. (This is my second Halloween project.)

I'm determined to get the witch's hat made in time this year.

If you're interested in making a fun witch's hat, there are several YouTube videos on how to make one out of fabric.

If you prefer a pattern, check out Melissa's Spellbound Hat pattern. There are a lot of customer photos on her pattern page to inspire you.

That's all for now. Until next time...

Snappy ✂️ Summary

Intro section: If you didn't see the mid-August Snappy Scissors newsletter, take a look.

A mantra: Do you tend to put off sewing? What do you think about the mantra "Sew Now. Not Someday."

Coloring fabric: If you like hand embroidery and coloring, but aren't a huge fan of appliqué, this type of project might be right up your alley. Take a look at the YouTube video How to Colour Applique Designs by Kim Jamieson-Hirst from Chatterbox Quilts.

Witch's hat: Looking for a fun Halloween hat? Search YouTube for how to make a fabric witch's hat or check out Melissa's Spellbound Hat pattern.

Free event - Nov. 9-13