Hi All,I don't usually post our newsletter on the blog, and I won't do it next month, but I just want to make sure you are all signed up to receive one. We do a newsletter every month. We always show new product and give you a sneek peek of the online sales for the month, as well as other interesting tidbits we have going on. Make sure to sign up here so you are in the know.Enjoy!
Just Arrived:
Beadwork
New Sweater Knits!
New Covington!
Upcoming Sales:
20% Off Home Decor
10% Off Cotton Solids
Extra 10% Off Flannel Prints
20% Off Notions
20% Off All Lace
Meet Robin!
Robin is the newest member of our Internet team. The last week I have been calling her a "super seamstress" as she has been cranking out projects for me left and right. It is so nice to have someone with me who has been sewing for over 35 years. She started out on her grandma's knee and remembers the first time, at five, she sewed something on her own. It's amazing how good Barbie's evening gown can look from scrapes of fabric. Robin says she was hooked ever since and never looked back. Besides working with us at Michael Levine, she has her own sewing business. She mostly sews home decoratng goods for her business, but also sews apparel for herself. She is excited to introduce our readers to new products, different fabrics, and give us some of her insider sewing tips. I'm so excited to have her on board and she is so excited to get to know all of you.
A big thank you to MimiG!
We had a great morning with Mimi and her 90 shoppers. Our store was buzzing with activity and the the energy was amazing. Take look at our blog to see some pictures from the day. Do you see our new blue Michael Levine bags? For 5 lucky winners, one of those bags, goodies included, will be yours. The details will be announced on our Facebook page on August 6th. Stay tuned!
Take a look at what our customers have been up to:
Click HERE for the fabric and HERE for the project!!
Thanks for tagging us so we can see what amazing projects you're all working on. We love seeing what you are making. Keep it up!
Why Follow Our Blog?
Here's what's in the queue for August. First, Robin just finished two children's dresses from the new cotton batik that just arrived. Next up we will be featuring McCall's M6083. We are making one romper two ways. One is a casual day look from demin and the other is a silk animal print. It transitions perfectly from day to evening. We will also be showing you a new product that works great in the bottom of purses. We will be making a leather and fabric tote with it. In addition to projects, we will be starting Fabric Fridays. Every Friday you can go to the blog and we will show you some of the new products that have arrived that week. From apparel to home fabrics, from notions to yarn, we'll keep you in the loop. Just check in every Friday to see what new goodies have arrived.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for sewing and crafting along with us,
and for your continued support of our retail and online shop!
If you would like to be featured on our blog or our next newsletter, send us some photos of the crafts you have made from our store!
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Are you signed up for our newsletter? If not here is what you're missing...
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Destination - L.A. Fashion District
We love to see our customers and what they get when they visit. Thanks for tagging us & please do so again when you finish your projects!
Goodie bag giveaway...
Jump over to our Facebook page and see how to win one of the five goodie
bags that are up for grabs. Good luck!
Enjoy!
A long overdue introduction from Hawaii! (Or not)
(If you follow us on Facebook you know I'm supposed to be in Hawaii sitting at the beach with a drink in my hand writing this post, but instead here I sit at my home computer due to tropical storm Flossie. We did reschedule, but I figured I would send this from home and not wait two more weeks.)
So last week I was talking to Robin, the newest member of our online team, asking her for a bio for our newsletter. She told me she went online to look for mine and couldn't find one. It made me realize I haven't properly introduced myself to everyone out there.
I will keep it short. I came to Michael Levine, Inc. from the television industry. I grew up on sets, as my dad was a gaffer (lighting) and I knew from a young age I wanted to be in that world. I loved the excitement of it. After I graduated from college I worked my way up the ladder and eventually became an associate producer. I worked on many sit coms over the years, but the one that I worked on the longest was Malcolm & Eddie.
After 5 years the show was cancelled. During my time on that show I got married, had a baby, and was thinking of having another one. I just couldn't imagine working on a new show again. The hours would be crazy and I knew I didn't want to miss any more of my little girl's big moments.
I was lucky that my husband's family needed help in their business.
While I never imagined I'd work with fabric, and I may not be the most fashion forward person you will ever meet, I have always loved to shop for clothes and had a passion for home decorating. If you look in my closet, beside it being organized in color order, you would notice the pieces I own are pretty timeless. I buy a few items every season that are on trend, but I on the whole I like to stay true to what works on my body & what will be able to live in my closet for more than one season. I figured I would bring this knowledge to the table, as well as my organizational skill and see how it went. That was over 11 years ago so I'd say it has gone pretty well. During my time at Michael Levine I have worn many hats. I have done HR, payroll, assisted with buying new product, and reorganized various departments, but getting our online/social media off the ground has been the most exciting. Coming out of the television industry I love work that is fast paced and always changing and that is exactly what this online business has been.
They first year I came into the online division, lowpricefabric.com, it was all about setting up systems to get product online and to get connected to the buyers out there. Once we mastered getting the fabric online relatively smoothly, though not always fast enough, I thought we should enter the social media world. Over the last 9 months we have been working on making a presence for ourself on Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, our blog and Instagram. I have to say it is a lot harder than I imagined. Trying to think of new things to blog about or new ideas and products to post is not always easy. It is a world that never sleeps. Everyone wants new information right now. I am trying to learn how to balance those demands with my the other aspects of my life. I am working on setting limits for myself so that I don't become someone who has to be attached to her phone all the time. With a teenager in the house, who just got a phone last month, I am trying to model the importance of face to face time as opposed to text/screen time, so I want to set a good example. That being said, once the kids go to bed I am up until all hours working at my desk.
Sorry I digressed. So I have been at Michael Levine, Inc. for over 11 years and have had two more children. I work part-time in the office and part-time from home. When I came to Michael Levine, Inc. all those years ago it was really important for me to spend the afternoons with my children. I didn't want to look back and feel like I missed being with them. My oldest, now a teenage, is a high level gymnast. Besides needing to be driven to the gym and have food prepared that 30 minutes is a great time to connect with her. I love that I get to have that. The younger two have homework and various activities, from soccer to baseball to art and while the afternoons are crazy, I wouldn't trade them for anything. If I had stayed in the television world spending that time with them would have been impossible. Since we have gotten our online store up and running my part-time job has quickly become more like a full-time job and I couldn't be enjoying it more. I still only work from the office until 2pm, but I work many hours every evening to stay on top of everything. Sales are growing, we're connecting with amazing bloggers, and bringing more people on board so we can do projects for our blog as well as get more fabric onto our site. We're in the middle of revamping our cotton section and next will tackle the apparel section. We will be looking at our in-store notion department and getting more of those products online as well. It is a long road, but one that is so worth traveling. I love the challenge and can't wait to see where we will be in another year and than another year after that, and so on. Thank you for following us and buying fabric from us. We really appreciate your business and look forward to meeting your fabric needs for many years to come.
Enjoy!
So last week I was talking to Robin, the newest member of our online team, asking her for a bio for our newsletter. She told me she went online to look for mine and couldn't find one. It made me realize I haven't properly introduced myself to everyone out there.
I will keep it short. I came to Michael Levine, Inc. from the television industry. I grew up on sets, as my dad was a gaffer (lighting) and I knew from a young age I wanted to be in that world. I loved the excitement of it. After I graduated from college I worked my way up the ladder and eventually became an associate producer. I worked on many sit coms over the years, but the one that I worked on the longest was Malcolm & Eddie.
After 5 years the show was cancelled. During my time on that show I got married, had a baby, and was thinking of having another one. I just couldn't imagine working on a new show again. The hours would be crazy and I knew I didn't want to miss any more of my little girl's big moments.
I was lucky that my husband's family needed help in their business.
While I never imagined I'd work with fabric, and I may not be the most fashion forward person you will ever meet, I have always loved to shop for clothes and had a passion for home decorating. If you look in my closet, beside it being organized in color order, you would notice the pieces I own are pretty timeless. I buy a few items every season that are on trend, but I on the whole I like to stay true to what works on my body & what will be able to live in my closet for more than one season. I figured I would bring this knowledge to the table, as well as my organizational skill and see how it went. That was over 11 years ago so I'd say it has gone pretty well. During my time at Michael Levine I have worn many hats. I have done HR, payroll, assisted with buying new product, and reorganized various departments, but getting our online/social media off the ground has been the most exciting. Coming out of the television industry I love work that is fast paced and always changing and that is exactly what this online business has been.
They first year I came into the online division, lowpricefabric.com, it was all about setting up systems to get product online and to get connected to the buyers out there. Once we mastered getting the fabric online relatively smoothly, though not always fast enough, I thought we should enter the social media world. Over the last 9 months we have been working on making a presence for ourself on Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, our blog and Instagram. I have to say it is a lot harder than I imagined. Trying to think of new things to blog about or new ideas and products to post is not always easy. It is a world that never sleeps. Everyone wants new information right now. I am trying to learn how to balance those demands with my the other aspects of my life. I am working on setting limits for myself so that I don't become someone who has to be attached to her phone all the time. With a teenager in the house, who just got a phone last month, I am trying to model the importance of face to face time as opposed to text/screen time, so I want to set a good example. That being said, once the kids go to bed I am up until all hours working at my desk.
Sorry I digressed. So I have been at Michael Levine, Inc. for over 11 years and have had two more children. I work part-time in the office and part-time from home. When I came to Michael Levine, Inc. all those years ago it was really important for me to spend the afternoons with my children. I didn't want to look back and feel like I missed being with them. My oldest, now a teenage, is a high level gymnast. Besides needing to be driven to the gym and have food prepared that 30 minutes is a great time to connect with her. I love that I get to have that. The younger two have homework and various activities, from soccer to baseball to art and while the afternoons are crazy, I wouldn't trade them for anything. If I had stayed in the television world spending that time with them would have been impossible. Since we have gotten our online store up and running my part-time job has quickly become more like a full-time job and I couldn't be enjoying it more. I still only work from the office until 2pm, but I work many hours every evening to stay on top of everything. Sales are growing, we're connecting with amazing bloggers, and bringing more people on board so we can do projects for our blog as well as get more fabric onto our site. We're in the middle of revamping our cotton section and next will tackle the apparel section. We will be looking at our in-store notion department and getting more of those products online as well. It is a long road, but one that is so worth traveling. I love the challenge and can't wait to see where we will be in another year and than another year after that, and so on. Thank you for following us and buying fabric from us. We really appreciate your business and look forward to meeting your fabric needs for many years to come.
Enjoy!
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Bring on the shoppers...
What a fun Saturday morning! Last Saturday, July 20th, we had over 80 of MimiG's followers descend on our store. Mimi and I have been talking about this day for months. When we started discussing the numbers I think it was around 50, but it quickly rose and before I knew we were up to 89 shoppers. I just wanted to share a few pics from the morning and give a big thank you to Mimi, her great family who was there to support her, and of course the shoppers. We had a great time answering your questions, feeling fabric with you, searching for what you wanted, and watching our fabric cut like crazy! We hope you guys had as good of a time as we did. We can't wait to see what everyone makes with the fabric they bought, as well as the fabric from your goodie bag. Make sure to tag us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Here are a few pics...
Setting up the goodie bags
Yummy snacks from Panera and Coffee Bean.
We made one of Mimi's dresses so everyone could see it in person. This fabric is almost sold out. I can't wait to wear this dress in Hawaii. It is so comfortable!
And the cutting begins!
Just one of the many hold piles. The knits , stretch wovens, and cottons were all hot sellers.
Lining up to get questions answered from Mimi. This went on for the entire 3 hours. Mimi is a great source of knowledge and you could tell this group really wanted to absorb as much as they could from Mimi, as well as the Michael Levine staff.
Bringing more fabric from the warehouse. There were a few prints that everyone really liked. We can't wait to see how everyone interprets the same fabric in different ways.
Checking out and our new Michael Levine bags. Don't forget to check in on August 6th to see how you can win a goodie bag of your own. I will announce the details on our Facebook page.
Larry, the owner, and I had to get a picture with Mimi. It's been such a pleasure getting to know her this year.
More shoppers checking out of The Loft, our "per pound" store.
Even while everyone was waiting for the bus to arrive they were asking questions and getting information.
And the bus arrives. Whew. What a fun-filled 3 hours! We really enjoyed our time with you guys. Make sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter so you can keep up with everything we're doing. If you're a local, make sure to say hi when you visit again and if you're from out-of-town, don't forget you can still shop us at lowpricefabric.com. Again, we can't wait to see what you make from all the fabric you bought. Have fun!
Enjoy!
Here are a few pics...
Setting up the goodie bags
Yummy snacks from Panera and Coffee Bean.
We made one of Mimi's dresses so everyone could see it in person. This fabric is almost sold out. I can't wait to wear this dress in Hawaii. It is so comfortable!
And the cutting begins!
Just one of the many hold piles. The knits , stretch wovens, and cottons were all hot sellers.
Lining up to get questions answered from Mimi. This went on for the entire 3 hours. Mimi is a great source of knowledge and you could tell this group really wanted to absorb as much as they could from Mimi, as well as the Michael Levine staff.
Bringing more fabric from the warehouse. There were a few prints that everyone really liked. We can't wait to see how everyone interprets the same fabric in different ways.
Checking out and our new Michael Levine bags. Don't forget to check in on August 6th to see how you can win a goodie bag of your own. I will announce the details on our Facebook page.
Larry, the owner, and I had to get a picture with Mimi. It's been such a pleasure getting to know her this year.
More shoppers checking out of The Loft, our "per pound" store.
Even while everyone was waiting for the bus to arrive they were asking questions and getting information.
And the bus arrives. Whew. What a fun-filled 3 hours! We really enjoyed our time with you guys. Make sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter so you can keep up with everything we're doing. If you're a local, make sure to say hi when you visit again and if you're from out-of-town, don't forget you can still shop us at lowpricefabric.com. Again, we can't wait to see what you make from all the fabric you bought. Have fun!
Enjoy!
Friday, July 19, 2013
The infamous pattern down one side wrap dress...
So for the last year I have followed MimiG Style, as well as worked with her. She shops us regularly and I love seeing what she does with our fabrics. A few months ago MimiG made this wrap dress from a floral knit and we sold over 200 yards in a few days. It was crazy. Every time she makes a dress I say we should make one, but the days just get away from us and we don't. Well now we have!
This dress is really figure flattering and makes me feel very statuesque. While Robin followed the pattern here are a few issues we ran into. She needed an extra yard and a half than the pattern called out for due to the floral pattern running right down the middle of the fabric. Also the pattern didn't call for a belt. We definitely felt the dress needed one so Robin cut a 55" by 6" stripe from the salvage & in a snap we had our belt.
I really liked the ruching detail on the sleeve. Just a simple detail, but it really made this dress feel polished.
While the dress is a bit heavy, due to the length and the ITY fabric, it also gives you nice coverage and hides any lumps and bumps without needing to be lined. This fabric is great for travel. Roll it in your suitcase and it comes out looking great. I will definitely be taking this on my vacation in a few weeks. It is so comfy, yet nice enough to wear out to dinner. I will be wearing it for the date night I am planning for my husband. Our one night out without the kids. I can't wait!
If you're in Los Angeles, stop by and see us in person. This dress will be in the front display for the next 2 weeks, than it will be in Hawaii with me!
Enjoy!
Regina & Robin
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Here comes the pop of color....
All I can say is I love it! Fabric is like the icing on the cake. The eat-in area in the kitchen is pretty, but these pillows just added that pop of color and fun that I was looking for. I have been going back & forth for weeks trying to decide which fabric combinations to use. If you walked into my house over the last 2 to 3 months there were always different fabric samples sitting on this table. I have to live with the print for a few days, see it in different lights, and get a few opinions on it. Usually after a few days of looking at it in the space I just know. Unfortunately, for the last month I kept rejecting my choices. Nothing felt right until last week. I brought home this turquoise starfish fabric home and it coordinated well with the main inspiration fabric, which will be across the room, as well as the red geometric print I already knew I wanted to use.
Here are a few pictures of Robin making the pillows. We ended up making four of the turquoise pillows in size 24" and three of the red pillows in 22". I wanted to hit he lip of the window and also wanted some height difference in the two pillows. Since the red is such a strong color we decide to make those the smaller ones. Robin and I agreed if we made the reds the larger ones they would over power the turquoise one. Also since I already have red chairs and bar stool (not visible in the picture) I wanted the turquoise pop.
Here are the supplies you will need. Everything can be found online.
Interfacing going on the pillow fabric
Attaching the handmade piping. Click here for the cord that goes inside the piping.
To help attach zipper, use sew through double sided tape to hold zipper in place.
When working with a fabric that has a distinct print, it is really important to center it so you like the final outcome.
Cutting the back side. Make sure to find the grain or straight edge.
If you don't have a wilting foot, you can use the zipper foot and move the needle to the edge.
This is a new product. It's a size 6 invisible zipper by the yard. They are great for home dec projects.
Lastly get your pillow forms and stuff your pillows. To make the corners nice and full take a bit of loose pillow stuffing and put it into the corners. This will fill the out nicely. Beautiful pillows that really have that wow factor!
This project really reminded me that just adding a few decorative pillows can really change up a typical room for not a lot of money. Hopefully you will be inspired to make a few yourself.
Enjoy!
Regina & Robin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)