I agree. That is one important factor in my making clothes rather than buying them. I might not be saving a lot of money, but not only do I get things that fit perfectly, but I also am not helping an overseas company oppress its workers.
Some of the Asian fabrics we get here in the UK are superb quality. They are different from quilting fabrics, but just as good in their own way. I've had Chinese cotton woven like silk - and just as fabulous to the touch. Most true batiks are woven and printed in Asia and the Pacific, and are superb quality for both garment and quilt use. African cottons are also well worth exploring.
Thanks... We may have some, but I've not seen one. (Dedicated quilt supply stores.) I should have said - we do have quality material in very large stores - but the price jump from asian to good is incredible. I think it also comes from the USA - so I guess that's about to dry up too!
Heh - people can't even sell 'em on ebay down here... The magazine pats itself on the back over its changes and think they are on the right track. Perhaps they are - but not for us any longer.
We have a complete set including all the early extra issues, except one which was only a reprint of earlier articles. I bought a triple length subscription just as they changed their format. We still have about 11 issues to go, but after that...
Allan
Max, to call a spade a spade, so that voters understand the issues, yours is an argument to support tariffs - tariffs versus free trade. Sharon
Oh, do we get poor stuff here. You should see what passes as knit (t-shirt) fabric. You know how you (sorry - I mean to say we - husbands) buy underwear or a t-shirt and wear it until it becomes thin, begins to rot and eventually evaporates? ; ) Well about two-thirds through that process is the quality of knit we get here. It looks new of course, but it's so thin - and doesn't feel like cotton - it has a sticky, sweaty, synthetic feel to it. My wife made me some great fitting t-shirts, but I can't wear them, because they feel like I'm wearing green algae. : (
But there *must* be some...There are wonderful, well-known quilters/teachers/authors from Australia, and at least one beautiful quilting magazine--Australian Patchwork & Quilting--so there must be quilt shops. If you bought a copy of the magazine, I would think you could find shop advertisements.
Doreen in Alabama
That is SO sad, when you are so much closer to good sources than we are! I made DH a shirt out of a cheap and cheerful cotton/rayon mix, bought in an Asian cheapo shop, with Made in India on the bolt end. It's a green plaid weave... Cheap as chips, as the saying is, and still doing well 20 years later! He completely scragged the expensive red/blue Vyella shirt I made at the same time, within five years, but this green one one is still fighting back! Needless to say, the green cheapie was made to prove the pattern before cutting the expensive Vyella!
I do know what you mean about T's and underpants... DH and DS BOTH have to have them surgically removed from the drawer at the point they become indecent!
Oh please. We're the country that started the industrial revolution, remember?
Reality is: Repeal all the environmental laws. Repeal all the child labor laws. Disband OSHA. Repeal the minimum wage laws. Get your friends to work for $10.00 a week. THen we can compete.
I still think forcing a trade balance is a much better solution.
Perhaps, but allowing overseas nations to sell steel at huge losses until the industry collapsed is hardly the right solution, IMHO.
Make them build them here, or tariff them. It worked in the 80's.
I miss your point. I was referring to laws that force employers to provide indoor plumbing with potable water coming from the sinks.
In China, there's literally an endless flow of replacements available. People are indeed disposable.
I missed your point here, I guess. The EPA is the governing body that controls emissions from our production facilities. The factories in other countries are allowed to dump raw sewage into rivers.
What "has to change?" Why? What should we change?
Unlike you, I studied history. No, the US did not start the industrial revolution. Hint - populous country, English speaking, other side of the ocean - invented steam engines, mechanical looms, railroad etc. The US was largely an agrarian society when the Industrial Revolution started.
The Chinese are busy providing plumbing as part of modernizing. You want the the US to go backwards. What a great idea.
You're missing a lot. Dumping pollution in the US will make the US a place not worth living in. The US consumes more than China while having only about one-quarter of the population. If all that pollution is released instead of treated, things get really bad really fast. You're probably not old enough to remember how smelly cars were before pollution laws were enforced - things are better now and there is no benefit in going backwards.
How about recognizing that you can't support the current American (or more generally a western) lifestyle by consuming most of the world's resources and expect the rest of the world to remain poor. As they grow, the only thing for the west to do is learn to get along with less. There aren't enough resources to go around.
Add to that the average American currently owes $30,000 as a result of federal debt. That plus the amount of debt carried by the average person due to municipal & state debts and obligations, mortgages, credit cards etc. and you quickly realize that much of the "wealth" in the US is based on debt, not value. The Chinese currently hold almost 22% of that American debt.
You want change that means something? Pay these debts and accept reality.
Mike
Allan, i think you are in Sydney, yes? If so I can't really help (I'm in Melbourne) but there are some websites that may be useful. Just off the top of my head,
The Fabric Shop in Chatswood - not sure what street, it'll be in the phone book and has a website I think.
NAYY...
chris :-)
is learn to
state debts
In time, the "third world" will improve their standards and join us in the 21st century -- and we can encourage that. At the same time, since we will be sharing resources, we will be making some changes and adjustments. It would also be good if we were to avoid ruining our environment. Meanwhile, we should probably have as much person-to-person contact with people from other countries as we can. Take in exchange students, meet foreign students, read blogs, welcome people to email lists and newsgroups. Stuff like that.
I think we're really lucky that the Chinese are learning English, because learning Chinese would be very difficult for many of us. ;-)
Thanks!
As a Canadian living on the US border I find that Americans have a very skewed idea of what the EPA actually does. We live on a river that is part of the Great lakes shipping system. Across from my house are 3 US coal fired power plants. Nothing is more alarming than to see the yellow clouds issuing from the stacks of these plants. Often for days there is the smell of sulphur in the air but the EPA says it is acceptable rates....Our winds are mostly SW so the plumes are always over Canada. We have a power plant on this side too, also coal burning but 28 years ago the Ontario government insisted they install scrubbers to eliminate the pollution and these are inspected frequently through out the year. None of the electricity generated by this facility in Ontario is used by Canadians it all goes to the US. Being of Native American and English decent I remember my granddad telling stories of when he was a boy in Northern England and how some times you could not see your neighbors house--these were row houses- for the pollution from coal burning factories, and home heating. He went to work in the woolen mills at about age 10 along with all his brothers and sisters and mother. His father was a roofer, by far the safest job in comparison. My great gran died at age 34 because of the wool fibres in her lungs--it was a common disease.
The North American textile industry has been in trouble since the
60's. Here in Canada we lost a lot of the manufacturers to cheap imports from the US.....Something no one seems to remember or consider that Canada not so long ago had a thriving textile industry. My Dad was in the Paper business and part of his manufacturing process used cotton rags from the mills. When they closed in the late 60's he was forced to import from the southern US---it was better quality in the long run but by having to do that to get enough quantity he also led to the demise of some Canadian companies and of course all their workers.The bottom line is everyone wants quality and quantity cheap, even though we make more money and spend it more freely. You can see that here when people ask for cheap fabrics, threads, and even machines. Often the very first time we see someone post it is to ask "where can I get this cheap?" I do support my local fabric store even though the average price per metre is $14+, I just don't do as many projects now that we are on a fixed income. I do shop WalMart as it is the only other alternative in town but not often. I have gotten some very nice fabric there, but not on price point just because I liked the piece and the quality was good.
I do not own a credit card, also because of a fixed income, but I do use a debit card.....Canadians are the number one users of debit cards. I see my US relatives wallowing in debt, and double mortgages and earning wages half of what we get here for the same job. I know they are in trouble, but it is not the governments fault. I do not know how they sleep at night. I may not have a 64" tv, or the latest computer , eating out is still a treat and my truck is 16 years old, but my bills are paid and I am reasonably happy. I think what has to happen is that people must stop consuming and live within their means,--no you don't have to have everything to be content. Just paying down debt should ease the pressure and it will help you live longer. What the US government should do is look after its own first and stop trying to convert the world. I think things are going to get much worse across this beautiful river we share before it can get better, but it is up to the US people to demand that and expect it to happen. The biggest threat to your great nation is internal, not from outside. It seems you are drowning in debt.
West Yorkshire, right? He'd have called it the West Riding. I'm guessing Leeds, Bradford or possibly Huddersfield.
It's much cleaner here since the Clean Air act.
Sally
Hanna's Mum, you hit the nail on the head; we ARE drowning in debt, as much in our federal government as in our personal lives. I feel very fortunate not to have that personal debt (my husband made me promise not to carry any debt before we got married), but each and every American has a monstrous debt load, thanks to our government.
Karen Maslowski > As a Canadian living on the US border I find that Americans have a
Sigh. No, my point was free trade isn't equal trade.
things get really
is learn to
Straw man. We're not talking about global warming. We're talking about free trade. I'm saying when we make things, we leave the air a lot cleaner then when the third world countries make things. That's why things cost more.
state debts
So let's send more US jobs out of the country? You don't make a lick of sense to me.
Well, let's see - maybe if we didn't forgive practically every debt that large parts of the third world incurred with us it would be a wash. Ya think?!?
Yes, it is time for cultures that actually got a few thousand years of a head start on us to catch up. It is also time for them to quit blaming the US for all of their problems. C'mon - we've only been around for 250 years or so. It can't be entirely all our fault they're still living in dirt huts.
If we were talking about Mexico rather than China, I'd be on board. In the US we have enough resources to help them conquer their issues. And Eventually the trade would even out. Then Mexico, Canada and the US could start free trade with South America.
But China? There's far too many of them....we'll be living in boxes before they run into a labor shortage that drives their wages up.
Pog>>> What "has to change?" Why? What should we change?
Our country is being run by people who have never worked for a paycheck in their lives. They inherited their money, or got it through connections. They may have sat on a board of directors or in the CEO's chair, but never worked a 40 hour week and tried to keep a family together.
Hannah's Mum reminds me of when I grew up in the Pittsburgh, Pa., area. Before Smoke Control. The streetlights stayed on all day, because you couldn't see across the street for the smoke. When you blew your nose, the hankerchief turned black. Pittsburgh is now a beautiful city, from what I have seen. An amazing recovery from all those years of smoky air.
Yes, Still have family there as far as I know. Great Gran Dad did slate roofs, and we have a picture of him on one in the Richmond, Yorkshire market square, but he did many others too. Gramps said sometimes they got lost going into the ginnel to put the trash out but I am sure that was an exaggeration.....However when I was there are a teen they still used the coal fire in the 'lounge'. It was a source of pride he said to, that daily the front steps were scrubbed of soot......I cannot imagine how that must have been to live like that with air that thick..
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