I've been hearing about the fabric prices being raised too. However, I'm personally combating that by the following:
This past weekend I scavanged at a bunch of village wide garage sales for 100% cotton shirts and was able to get a lot of fabric for very little cost. I also bought woven belts to take apart and use for handles on my tote bags and some adorable Partylite tea candle holders that I'm making pin cushions from. There are ways to save money if we look.
And yes, Lacelady, we complain too much. However it's not because of the prices so much but because we know that it's the middle men, government, and the fat cats that are getting richer and richer by gouging us at the pumps. If someone in an oil rich country gets the stomach flu our gas prices jump 20cents a gallon. Saturday they raised 25cents in one day----just from morning to evening.