I know – it’s been ages. I’m so sorry. I’ll be done at the end of next week and then I can be a whole person again, instead of this half a shell.

But back to the injustice.

One of the things I like about Stacy’s blog, is the celebrity style watch section she’s been doing lately. I don’t have the patience to hunt through patterns and I’m not so experienced with the dressmaking to start with so it’s nice to be guided. Anyway, I liked the post about Knightley’s dress and thought to my little self “hey – I could make that! I’m sure I could make that! And it might not look terrible!”

So I looked up the pattern. Now compare this:
6697 – UK
with this – bottom row, in the middle:
6697 – US

Do you see it? No?

Okay then. Compare this: £5.75 with this: $4.29

Now do you see it?

Now, I know the exchange rate is silly at the moment – at today’s rate that dollar amount turns into £2.12 – but even so, there’s clearly some kind of stupid tax going on here. But I don’t think the stupid goes all in one direction. See, if patterns like this were half the price they are now, I’d be much more inclined to take a chance, & pick up something just to try it, rather than something I had to be really sure of. In the end I’d probably buy more patterns, because I’d be getting more experience. Right now I can’t even buy two patterns for a tenner.

Okay. Bitching over.