loopywren

love your avatar tussymussy. Is it from somewhere near you? As you can see I come from England too. In my case Ramsgate.

brenda21

Is it cheaper for those of you outside the US to have someone here buy you fabric and mail it over?

Aully

Hey all,
What is a tea bag? Yes I find fabrics here in Canada are expensive at quilting stores usually allways over $20 a meter. Fabricland has a quilting cotton section and it is $20 or more a meter but with your membership card it is always 50% off but I notice it is not high quality cottons. Our thread here is expensive as well, I will one day order it from connecting threads as it is so cheap on there but I don't have a credit card, only Paypal which makes purchasing online dificult becasue not many places have paypal for payment.

brenda21

Aully,
The Boston Tea Party was when the Americans had enough of Englands rule in the 1700's and they were tired of paying taxes for no reason (no taxation without representation) and they threw crates and crates of tea (bags) into the harbor to ruin it and prove a point....it was one of the events leading to our independence :)

loopywren

Thank you Brenda, I had wondered too, though I realised about the Boston tea party I hadn't associated the two.

Rosyhf

When my Australian friend was here to visit with me, she fell in love with my "Bugs in a Jar" quilt and I gave her a pattern for it and asked her if would be able to get the faric and that is when she told me the price. I went into my stash and gave her enough for two quilts and that is not a whole lot of fabric. All she had to do was get the background then.

I felt so bad for her. I bet a lot of ladies can't afford to quilt.

I was wondering why australia imports fabric from the US. I do believe a lot of our fabric comes from Bali, Indodesia, Japan etc. so does our wool for knitting.

Since I brought up the wool. I am now curious how much wool cost in Australia, since a lot of it is made there. How much does a four oz hank cost? I do knit too and must pay at least 9.00 for 4 oz of wool.

AbbyQuilts

Most of US cotton is used around the world for fabric production.

What happens here as there is very little mill left is
The cotton is grown in the US
Shipped to China
the fabric made in China and then shipped to where ever the orders are.

There are also lots of other countries that grow and produce fabric. Mostly in the middle east and east.

Why it may be more expensive for others is a whole host of reasons
First they have import/export duties, taxes and tariffs that we in the US do not have or are cheaper.
Second a lot of those countries have high taxes and or VAT
that can add an additional 10-20% over the base cost.
Second the min wage is higher in some of the countries so the over head is higher.



You have a trade off.
We in the US expect and almost demand cheap prices and that has lead to us importing and owing China more and more.

Other countries may feel that is not what is best for their citizens and they have instituted high taxes and other programs that they believe will help rather then hurt

LittleMo

Connecting Threads only ship to US and Canada :thumbdown:

BellaBoo

I'm just guessing here but it seems that someone overseas could order lots of fabric from say Hancock's of Paducah as a customer sell it for $2 over the cost per yard over what it cost them and sell it out of their home and make a profit. Travel to guilds/groups in the area and sell it to sewers.

Tussymussy

It sits in my sitting room. It is a picture of the side of a William Morris plant pot.