Announcement time...

We are very excited to share this news with you.  Mimi, from MimiG Style, has come on board as Michael Levine's Star Blogger. Mimi has been blogging about fashion, sewing, and more for over 5 years. Her sense of fashion and style, combined with her amazing sewing tutorials, has brought her loyal followers from all around the world. She started sewing at twelve while spending her summers visiting her aunt. It was on that sewing room floor that her passion for sewing and creating took hold. We can not wait to collaborate with her! Starting in September she will be bringing monthly projects and tutorials to our followers. From apparel to crafts and everything thing in between.  We're excited to start this new partnership. With our fabric and Mimi's style we think our viewers should be in for a real treat. Stay tuned for our first DYI tutorial mid September. We will be bringing you one of this Fall's hottest fashion trends.

Enjoy!

"Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope."...Here comes Valentine's Day!

I can't believe it's almost February. It's time to show the special people in your life you love & appreciate them. Hopefully you're doing this everyday, but on this day maybe take it one step further. Here are a few cute ideas...







Love the hearts on the elbows. So sweet, yet effective. I can think of a few other places your honey may like to see those hearts, but I will leave that to your imagination. All I have to say is even a non sewer can cut and paste!

I just stumbled across this website, Design Finch. What a great resource for making your own Valentine cards. 

The Oj and the gold fish are just too darn cute. Who wouldn't love to get these as Valentines?

Check out our Valentine fabrics, felts, trims, and rhinestone hearts. Perfect for Valentine's day. Whether you want to get crafty with your kids or spice it up for your honey, we have the perfect items for you to make it a special day.

Check out our mustache!

We are celebrating Movember by featuring “Where’s My Stache” fabric!

This fabric is perfect for almost any project for your mustached man, or the woman who adores mustaches! Show your support for Movember and men's health by sporting this as a satchel, make a carring case for a tablet, apron, or even a large oven mitt just for him! The possibilities for projects are endless!! And, you will be doing a good thing supporting men’s health! You can find this mustache fabric here. We are planning on celebrating Movember through December when we will be receiving lots of different mustache fabric. Be sure to follow our blog for updates!

If you do craft something, we would love to see it!

Link a photo to your project in the comments down below! Happy crafting!

Felt...

I have been coming across so many great felt projects online. I just wanted to share a few of them with you. Also,  since we have felt on sale all week ,I thought it might entice you to buy some. Wink, wink!

This site called Craftsy has lots of great felt ideas. Form cute felt houses to tree garland, and lots in-between. 

Family Circle has an easy stocking template. Something like this would be great to update the mantle, but also an easy craft for all the kids to make at your next holiday party. You could Pre-cut out the stocking and they can decorate it. Now that is a party favor I would like to go home with. mI love the untraditional color selection. I am so into turquoise, greens, and reds right now.



Of course we can't forget Martha. When in need of a craft she is always there to lend a helping hand. I have to say sometimes they get a bit complicated for me, but here are a few that are darling and may not take up your entire day.

      

     

      

      

The felt bag is one that I am really drawn to. I use recyclable totes all the time. Again this would make a great gift. If you had extra time maybe adding the recipients initials would be a nice touch.

Here is the video for the tree wine covers. These really make an ordinary hostess gift much more personal.

Of course, since I have little ones, I love the monster mittens and the Tooth Bear. They are so cute & would make you the hit among all the moms! I think my five year old may have to get the tooth bear this year. So vintage looking!

All the above crafts can be found at Marthastewart.com. They all have directions and pictures to help you make some great felt crafts this winter.

I don't want to leave out Hanukkah, so here are a few crafts that are fun.

 



The 8 nights of Hanukkah Countdown Calendar is from Land of Nod. I love this idea. Kids love anything that counts down and contains some sort of goodie! Again, while this one is great, it would be a nice tradition to make one with your kids.

I love every year when we pull the holiday boxes out, which we have lots, since we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas, and my kids, my husband, and myself, gravitate to items that have special meaning to each of us.  It may be the menorah I painted when my husband and I were dating, or the box that my mom put my most special gift in each year, or the ornaments that they made in school when they were little. Whatever it is we always enjoy a few moments talking about those special people or those special times.  They always want to hear the stories behind these personal treasures. I love that. That is really what the holidays are about. Spending time together, cherishing each other, and remember family who can't be with you anymore.

Hopefully one of these crafts will help you make a special memory with your family this year.

80/20 split

So 80% of the time I'm an employyee here at Michael Levine, but 20% of the time I am a shopper, crafter, and have even tried my hand at knitting. Before coming to work here I never would have called myself crafty, but being around all these amazing products day after day I found myself wanting to try my hand at a few things. The first thing I remember making were some really cute place mats out of oil cloth. No sewing required so it was a perfect first project for me. All I needed was pinking shears and the fabric. They turned out so cute and added a punch of color to my table. Once I had a baby around I found my focus shifted to baby items. Baby bibs, baby burp cloths, and baby blankets took me through the next few years. All my friends were so impressed when a one-of-a-kind baby bib or birp cloth was pulled out of my diaper bag. And a few years ago we brought yarn into the store. I love the look of the yarn and just had to give it a go. I will have to pull out the ones I did and post the pics. While I loved the results, I have to admit with 3 little kids and my low level of patience I didn't make that many items. I do have a few great winter scarves and love wearing them.  We have recently got in these collars, some are plane, while some have more embellishing. I was going through my many fashion magazines and saw all these t-shirts with embellished neckline. My radar went up and I thought I can do this. For a few dollars and a nice Michael Star T-shirt I had mysel a really cute, not so everyday T-shirt. Here are a few pics of my personal projects that I really thought were simple and that I really use and wear...





Here is one of my latest projects. I have been into making jewlery. I made this great vintage feeling necklace awhile ago, and still love wearing it. It was so simple. We have chain here and of course a hugh selection of buttons. These are rhinestone balls that hang just perfect.

One day when I was working in the button department I met this shopper who had this amazing necklace on, one that would be perfect fot the "Black & Bling" party I was invited to. When I asked her about it & took a closer look I realized it was all buttons. She had just bought it a one of the big department stores. Again I thought I can make this for 1/2 the price. While we didn't carry the exact button her necklace contained I found something similar that I liked. I love this necklace. While I use it as a special occasion piece I get compliments everytime I wear it.

I hope you feel inspired to try something new. While we may not still carry the exact products show in these pictures, we have so many newer, great options. Remember, even if your a novice like me, have fun and give it a go!

A day in the life... from arrival to departure at Michael Levine

Ever wonder what it's like to be a roll of cloth at Michael Levine's? Well here's a behind the scenes view of our operations!
Nearly every day, shipments of new fabrics arrive by truckloads at our warehouse, located right next door to the main store.


New items are unloaded and checked in by warehouse staff:


Some fabrics, as shown above, arrive on a double-fold board. But others, shown below, need to be converted by warehouse staff from large heavy rolls to a more easily-handled, double fold board.


The fabrics are then stickered with prices and other unique information used to track inventory and costs.


Some fabrics are then moved on carts to one of three floors of our expansive warehouse, and down a specific aisle, to a specific shelf.
Fabrics are organized by the category and department of our store to which they belong, and then further organized and stacked by color and price.
The warehouse is a great place to visit when a customer can't find what they need in store, or if they need a larger quantity than what's on display. One of our staff will certainly be happy to bring you here if need be!


New fabrics that have not been previously stocked will await a different cart ride, which will take them over to our main store or home decoration store.  There, they will make their debut as new items:


Upon arrival at our stores, one of our floor clerks will take the new materials to the appropriate shelf, making sure that price labels are attached and that the rolls are not too heavy to handle. The fabrics are now available for sale!


The last step before a material becomes a project is when it gets cut. Yardage is measured and cut at one of five tables and written up on a ticket for sale. This is where customers interact with our friendly staff and exchange ideas and sewing tips with one another.
We hope that next time you visit our stores or website, www.LowPriceFabric.com, you'll take a closer look and enjoy knowing what goes into the daily operations of Michael Levine! Oh...and if you're wondering what happens to those last little end pieces when we finish a roll of fabric, be sure to read the next blog entry about our discounted remnant shop, the Loft!