It's become too expensive to make our own clothes, do you agree?

Simplicity Pattern Company has a line called 'Daisy Kingdom' for little girls and I have made several of these very fancy dresses, with all the ruffles and underskirts. Extremely difficult if you don't know how to sew. One year for Easter I made dresses for my granddaughters and another little girl in our church. WOW that was an experience. But noway could you buy what I made in the store but still the cost was high. Since home sewing has become a "lost art", we have a town now near us that their is no fabric shops left in it. The local Walmart carrys a very limited selection of fabric and to go anywhere else is a 50 mile round trip drive, at least! I can remember when there were 4 fabric shops in this town, all different. When I was in school one of my classes was home ec and we learned to sew and cook. That class has not been offered in years. I am afraid the way things are going now that by the time my grandchildren are parents they will need to know how to do things the 'old way' just to survive, because there will be such a lack of $$ and everything being over priced. I think our economy is starting to show this, so many lost jobs that noone can buy anything. Still depending to much on credit cards and not on just what we have.

Yes this is exactly my point, it is just too expensive!! I have maid hundreds of fancy dress outfits over the years - kangaroos, robins, Mr Men, chimney sweeps etc etc - I'm glad things weren't as expensive then!!

i worked for some years in a haberdashery part time and part time in a material shop., which in them selves are a rare find these days, and watched the prices of materials increase so much., the paper patterns also where out rageouos i thought., although my wages where low, the discounts where good., so became a horder of yarn, and material from working realising how lucky i was.... but then got into looking into charity shops/thriftshops, as you can find velvet and other materials that would cost so much, being a small frame am over the moon when find a larger sized velvet skirt, as know it can be transformed into something wonderful, for a smaller person or child., at a fraction of the cost., so crafters now have to become crafty in obtaining their materials., finding satin curtains, and believe it or not, some one was throwing out some old dirty material, which turned out to be about 6 yards metres of silk., oh joy... real silk and had it for nothing., what a blessing.., the production of the basic haberdashery items and the cotton and fabric mills have now largely become none existant in this country, producing shipping costs that in the old days we dindt have to pay., the owner of the material shop went to holland / belgium once a month to pick up material to sell in his shop otherwise the shipping costs would have made them unsaleable., i mean proper gingham can be as elusive as rocking horse ..... you know... this is why i think and hope to keep creative things alive by passing on skills and if second hand materials have to be used then so be it., so these basic crafts dont get lost best wishes x

I'm afraid that there is no where in the UK that we could buy fabric so cheaply! That is about 60p a yard for us - the cheapest we see fabric anywhere is around £3 a yard (around $5) and it is VERY rare for us to get it so low - usually double that.

I am sure there is a way. You are closer to India than I am for instance an I am certain you could find a supplier for cottons. One of the fabric stores here in the states, Hancock Fabrics, has a table where they reduce fabrics for clearance as do other retailers quite often. Even if you aren't crazy about the pattern you can always re-dye the fabric to your liking. If you are able to receive fabric from Jo Ann stores you can go to the website and watch for sales (it's where I get my muslin). Not sure if Dollar Tree ships to the UK but I often get really nice yarn there and you can order in bulk online. Recently I bought some very nice yarn online at clearance price... you just have to sign up for email with the various yarn companies (you get free patterns also) and see what they have to offer. I've found great deals on yarn from Turkey and, again, you're closer to there than I am, so there must be a way for you to get it in the UK. Good luck!

I can get muslin for $1.99/yd U.S. from places like JoAnn, which I am sure must ship to address outside the states. JoAnn often has coupons where you can get 40% off a purchase.

It certainly is, yet it is fun to sew and you do feel a lot of satisfaction when the item's finished and looks good

I understand this point but sadly in the UK fabric is still so expensive we could still buy them cheaper.

You sound very much like me!

My sister at one time worked for a company that made clothes and she did keep me stocked up with fabric, elastic and cottons, but now that I need to purchase them it is just TOO expensive. Before I moved from my last home I had my own 'sewing room' and I had lots of old knitting and sewing patterns but when my son in law 'helped' me to move these all got thrown away - to buy a pattern now for a child's dress costs between £5 - £10 - I can buy the ready made dress for less!!

Oh my, what we don't go through with men, especially in-laws. Some of my patterns are back when they were 15 cents, now they are 10 to 20 dollars. Inflation seems to hit crafts the hardest. LOL Sally

I still do a little knitting but mainly for new babies, I'm just knitting a pram rug now for my daughter's new baby due in September

I have a £14year old son who is very tall - I can buy him ready made trousers for school for £6 - it would cost me at least £20 to make them even if I had good tailoring skills

There is no Primark very near to me but I buy loads fro Matalan and Asda all so cheap!! I tend to still knit for the babies but that is all now. Here is a cloak I knit for my granddaughter