I'm 53. I was raised "old school" by my Grandparents, who were born in the 1800's. I was taught to sew by age 8, to grow food, harvest/can, do electric, paint, etc. All the things you needed to live/repair/survive. I went to work in a sewing factory soon out of high school. I worked 11 years in that sewing factory that made wool fabric, wool hunting clothing & shirts. I loved my job even tho it would get 95 at our machines in summer. The company was in business over 175 years. Sadly it & the 4 other factories the company owned moved to Mexico. I knew as soon as NAFT was signed it was the beginning of the end of manufacturing as we knew it. We had no union, but UNIONS can not be totally to blame either. It's greed, environmental laws & Government that allowed this to happen. Sadly the longer we go without manufacturing here in the USA the more skills will be lost. By the time future generations realize we need to grow & make our own products there won't be anyone left with the knowledge of how to grow or make them left. We were once know as the country with the best skilled workers. Not anymore. Those that had the knowledge of how to make the machines needed to run factories are soon to be gone. I find it sad younger generations only want to sit behind a desk & push buttons. Heck it won't be long before the skill of hand writing is lost among many others. Ask a kid today what "quarter of 3" means & they just look at you. They're being taught time in digital terms. If we lose power they can't tell time. Skills are being lost to high tech. If we ever have a castrophy & have to live off the land many would never survive. We, as a country, have come to rely on other countries for too much. We need to turn the clock back & grow/make/do for ourselves again. Teach your kids, grandkids, neighbors, anyone....just pick one person in your life...and teach them something valuable....like how to grow/harvest/can fruits & veggies. How to sew, darn, crochet, do carpentry/woodwork, leather work, etc. Pass on your knowledge so it's not lost. And for heavens sake we need to stop rewarding kids for failing! Kids need to be taught they have to work hard for what they want. Stop handing them everything. The education reports just came out & the USA is a joke. Of course China was first on the list. The only way things will return to the USA is if we stop buying things made from other countries. Hard to do now tho, but there are many things we can live without, if we really wanted to. Let your politicians know we want our country back! We want to make our own products. Tell them to pass laws that will help small business start up & keep going. We need mills to open again. Our neighbor, who just moved in last year when his Grandfather died, is 35 & din't even know how to mow grass! I find this pathetic since we live in a small town. All he knows is high tech stuff. Parents have left kids just do & have not passed on the knowledge they have so thier kids can do for themselves. Our world is a mess!

I'll get off my soapbox now.....and to keep this on topic....buy up what fabric you can afford now, build your stash as much as yuo can before prices go sky high & then stop. Show them you will not pay the higher prices!

This is the underlying problem. Americans expect to be paid for their work.
Who can live here on less than our minimum wage, like the laborers overseas can do making our outsourced goods?

We have a circular situation here: if our laborer were paid enough to be able to buy the products he is employed at producing, then the price of the product would go up to pay his wages and insurance and benefits etc etc etc.
Since our laborer is not paid enough to buy the products he produces, then the manufacture of the products is sent elsewhere because there the wages would be less. This way the product can then be shipped back to US for us to buy it.

Face it folks, we are the bazzar for the world. We buy everything from somewhere else.
And some of those places do not in return buy what little we do make here.
Our incomes are going out of the country buying products made out of the country.
I'm not sure how we break even here, nevermind come out ahead.

well spoken feather3

Thanks. Good to know. I do believe you have helped justify the huge stash I've collected!!

I agree about the prices, would be more than we can afford.
If and we know it will, the prices keep climbing, people on fixed incomes cannot make it. It's been real hard these last two years.
If minium wages goes up, the retailers and everthing else goes up to try and survive. Take our resturants for instances, If min. wage goes up, they have to raise prices on the food to survive or close their doors. And who does it hit the hardest? People on fixed incomes first, then the working people.
Where does all this mess stop at?

I agree with everything you have said.I am one of the poor Mountan people, who grew up in the hard times.
Them hard times are coming again in another generation.
It's a whole different world for the young people now that have never seen these times in their lives.
This Summer I had sewing classes for anyone who wanted to learn to sew. I had two students. Some others wanted to come, but was too busy, didn't have time.

I agree---we have the freedom to make our own decisions and I would like it to stay that way.

This is too funny, in a sarcastic way.....the ad that is on my screen, above this reply box, is Buy from China. 1000+ Sellers Online. Lowest Price & Factory Direct. sic

Gotta love targeted advertising! :?