Copy Cats

Oh my! I totally sympathize with the feeling you get when you see your creative work has been copied.  In fact it happened to me this weekend. I use to sew for a national company and I designed my own bags and sold them on Etsy long before I worked for the company. The lady I worked for had no clue how to sew so she used a few stay at home moms and a factory. I designed many bags and hair accessories for her company but never incorporated my own designs that I sold on Etsy. After designing a headband for her and then she took it to the factory the same day to have it made because they were cheaper I cut all ties with her. Her business partner also bailed shortly after that. Well guess what? this weekend while was a my little town craft fair I saw her. Low and behold she copied to the tee - fabric,burlap,straps down to the very last pleat- my best selling bag. I was furious to put it mildly. Then she had the nerve to ask me if it looked familiar..... my reply: Yes, a little to familiar! Then I walked out of her booth. No! she did not ask if I minded if she used my pattern or even gave me a clue that she was. It really is not fair especially since we are both in the same city. I closed that Etsy shop known as StitchnStudio last year. I will however get over it and make it again and move on. Here it is: