I've already posted in this thread, but reading through all the replies prompts me to post again. The thing which seems to stand out, apart from the rising cost of fabric, is how many of us are bemoaning the loss of manufacturing industries in our countries. Here in the UK we had fantastic cotton mills in the north of England, a great steel industry and a large car making industry, but no more. One of our world famous retailers, Marks and Spencers used to proudly boast that 99 per cent of all their goods were manufactured in Great Britain, alas not any more, most of their stuff is now made in the far east and north Africa. Here in Britain we have a proliferation on our high streets of what we call pound shops, everything for sale for £1.00, and where is the majority of the stuff they sell made? China. It is cheap and shoddy merchandise, but because it sells cheap we buy it. Living on a low fixed income I use these shops, I don't want to, but if its the difference between paying £1 in one of those shops or £3 or so in a local shop, well, there is no choice really.
China's annual growth rate is frightening, and a lot of the money they make by exporting their crap to the west is then being invested in western countries, so I think we may soon have more to worry about than the rising cost of fabric.