One Step Ahead

For about the past 8-10 years, my mom and I have discovered that we have an uncanny knack for being one step ahead of new trends. For example, when I was in high school we decided it would be fun to embroider a bunch of my tank tops with my initials and monogram. My friends liked it so much they brought over their tank tops and we did it for them, too. A few months later, I walked into Old Navy and found the store filled with tops with embroidered letters. Other brands soon followed suit.

Little things like this happen to us more than you would think. Twice this month we were flipping through magazines and found things strikingly similar to ideas of our own.

Exhibit A: Hamper redo.
We got a cheap hamper at Ikea for 99 cents. I decided that I would utilize the frame but make my own laundry case in a pretty fabric. I altered the original a bit by adding a top flap, to hide my dirty clothes. Well waddya know, flipping through Domino magazine this month my mom discovers a little blurb about doing exactly the same thing -- and look at the picture--the same thing right down to the top flap!

My hamper redo


Domino's hamper redo

Exhibit B: Quilting Fabric Choice
A few days later, my mom showed me this pillow from one of her sewing magazines. The fabrics are extremely similar to those I'm using in my latest quilt (which I'll post pictures of when I finish in the next couple weeks):

The frustrating thing, of course, is that other people are making money off these ideas. So in the end, being one step ahead leaves us one step behind...