Crafts v. Sweat shops

When people find out I make clothes and sell them, I get one of two responses:

"Ooh good on you, what do you make?" and then lots of enthusing about craft fairs and small businesses selling quirky and wonderful things...

OR

"You could get those made overseas at a fraction of the cost and then sell them here - you'd be rich in no time" and a lecture about how me working for below minimum wage is madness...

So here's the deal:  I sew because it's therapeutic.  I sew because it is a wonderful feeling when someone buys something you made.  I sew because the thank you emails and photos really do make my day.  I sew because creating something is just so much fun.  I sew because it's a good way to keep learning something new.  I sew for more reasons than money. 

As for hiring some poorly paid sweat shop workers, often children, almost always female, to whip some stuff up to make line my pockets, well the thought appalls me.  I'm no saint, but seriously, are people really just focused that much on the dollar sign?

So, next time you are torn between buying something handmade by a local crafter and buying something mass made, just ponder who made the garment you are looking at and why.

If Confucius could sew...

... he would have had a whole new list of sayings:

Confucius says

• no matter what fabric you buy, your customers will want the one that's run out
• you will run out of cotton half way through a fancy stitch
• the busier you are, the more likely it is that your overlocker will jam
• never underestimate the importance of ironing before you sew
• despite having ten different coloured pins, you will always drop the one that matches the carpet

10 step programme

My name is Flo and I'm a fabri-holic.

I like to think I can stop at one print, but once I've started it just seems to start a domino effect and before I know it my trolley has 15 bolts in it, some of it the hard stuff like quilters' cotton.  And I tell myself, okay, well I'll just get one metre of each, that's not so bad... then I see the 50% off sign and soon I am sneaking 2- and 3- metre cuts into my unmarked brown shopping bag and hoping no-one will notice. 

So I'm asking you, as my friends, please don't offer me offcuts.  Don't ply me with remnants or fat quarters.  Keep your bolt ends locked in a cuboard out of reach.

Please help me to help myself.

My name is Flo and I'm a fabri-holic.