OMG! Craft Supplies in NY

I had a terrible time looking for cheapie general craft supplies for my holiday projects. Poly-fill, googly eyes, black safety eyes, felt etc. Maybe I want a random bag of popsicle sticks or pipe cleaners!? So sue me!

You’d be hard pressed to find a good (if any) cheapie all-purpose crafts supply store here in New York. There are plenty of specialty and boutique stores for fine art but they’re usually more specialized (for fine art/architecture/design), high-end/pricey, while at the same time not having many options! Besides, who wants to go to 8 different stores just for poly-fill, googly eyes, felt etc? For better or worse, megastores like Joann or Michael’s are a rare beast here. But that’s New York for you sometimes.

However, there does in fact exist a single Michael’s on the isle of Manhattan which I think just opened up. And it’s located way up in the 100’s on the Upper West Side. The Garment District is decent for fabric arts but overrated. It’s grimy and dingy to start. I wouldn’t mind if it was worth it. But some stores are just extremely poor excuses for stores, selection-wise and service-wise. I’m not looking for corset boning just yet! Store hours are generally not work friendly or consistent. In general, it takes a lot of pavement pounding and teeth pulling in the Garment District to get what you’re looking for and doesn’t live up to its mecca status.

So for now here is a list of the most popular consummate NY ones and a brief summary. My list of fabric arts related stores and yarn related stores around Manhattan.

Michael’s Arts & Crafts
808 Columbus Avenue (near 100th St.)
New York, NY 10025-5139
(212) 865-0813
Large and jam-packed with a good basic selection of a myriad of crafts for economy to mid-range quality supplies and tools. The prices are decent for those ranged goods. Not very specialized in each category, but extremely decent. It’s a veritable cheapie emporium for almost everything you can think of. Wooden dowels? Check. T-square? Check. Yarn? Beads? Flower foam? Check. And in Manhattan that’s a gem. Customer service is non-existent. So you are left to wander around the store for 30 minutes before you find the poly-fill in a very hidden and hard to get to spot. The sewing section is poor. Also note, they do not carry fabric here.

Fashion Design Bookstore @ FIT
250 W27th St. (7th & 8th Ave.)
New York, NY 10001
(212) 633-9646
An art supply store with a wealth of sewing supplies, tools, and notions!
They even had poly-fill and a few sewing patterns! My #1 choice for sewing supplies so far.

Utrecht Art Supply Center
215 Lexington Ave (11th & 12th)
New York, NY
(212) 683-8822

Utrecht Art Supply Center
237 West 23rd Street
New York, NY
(212) 675-8699

Pearl Paint
308 Canal Street
New York, NY 10013
(212) 431-7932

Pearl Paint @ School of Visual Arts
207 East 23rd Street (3rd Ave.)
New York, NY 10010
(212) 592-2179

Pearl Paint is another New York institution for fine art supplies. The one down on Canal in Chinatown is huge (5 floors if I remember correctly. 5 floors and not a single quilting ruler!). The one on 23rd is a smaller satellite store.

Lee’s Art Shop
220 West 57th St.
New York, NY 10019
(212) 247-0110
www.leesartshop.com
Wide range of arts and crafts supplies but with a basic selection in each department. It’s like a slightly less comprehensive Michael’s. Great place for portfolios! And good prices!

Dick Blick
1-5 Bond Street
New York, NY 10012
(212) 533-2444
This is a slightly more upscale version of Michael’s wide rang of all types of fine art and craft supplies. The selection in each range slightly less comprehensive than Michael’s. Akin to Lee’s Art Supply. Nice, bright, large store with helpful staff on cute Bond St.

New York Central Art Supply
62 Third Avenue
New York, NY
(212) 473-7705
Great prices and great for comprehensive Fine Art supplies. A New York institution akin to Pearl Paint.

H & B Digital
29 West 46th Street
New York, NY 10036
(212) 354-1341
Excellent for Cameras. Great Prices. The guy was really helpful and knowledgeable. I included this because it was part of my quest for supplies plus taking documenting your work is part of the fun! And I found a decent mini tripod here for about $10.

A.I. Friedman
44 West 18th St.
New York, NY 10011-4629
(212) 243-9000

Sam Flax
3 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
(212) 620-3000

I feel both A.I. Friedman and Sam Flax are geared more towards design/architecture supplies. However, they do carry alot of other stationary, desk, and office accessories including furniture like Herman Millers. Speaking solely for the supplies, they’re high-end and pricey.

~

Here are some other stores I found from a recommended list at FIT that I have not been to:

Andy’s Art Supplies, Inc
208 West 23rd Street
New York, NY
(212) 675-9499

Barnes & Noble Bookstore FIT-A Bldg.
7th Ave @ 27th Street
New York, NY 10001
(212) 217-7710

Charette
215 Lexington Ave (33rd St.)
New York, NY Discount- $8 membership gives 20% discount
(212) 683-8822

Chelsea Art Supplies
134 West 34th Street
New York, NY
(212) 242-8856

David Davis
148 Mercer St. (Prince & Houston)
New York, NY
(212) 343-9277

Design Partners
343 7th Avenue
New York, NY 10001
(646) 674-0954

Fine Arts Materials
346 Lafayette Street
New York, NY
(212) 982-7100
(Discount Art Supplies)

Pearl Paint Paramus
776 Route 17
North Paramus, NJ 07652
(201) 447-0300

Sculpture House Casting
155 West 26th Street
New York, NY
(212) 645-9430

Suffolk Arts & Crafts Center, Inc
1090 Jericho Turnpike
Commack, NY 11725
(516) 864-5050

Fabrics Save-A-Thon
824 Flatbush Ave
(between Linden Blvd & Caton Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11226
(718) 282-9100

LOVE THIS STORE! It’s in the heart of the hood, surrounded by lots of other budget and 99 cent stores. And is great for people who just need standard economical sewing and yarn supplies. It not only carries a whole bunch of Red Heart, Aunt Lydia’s (full line, huge variety), Boye Aluminum Crochet Hooks but .99 per yard fabric (some very decent ones) great for home dec or casual projects. Lots of zippers! Som 2 for a $1 or 0.99 cents each in every color imaginable and they look to be pretty decent quality. Lots of bulk discount yarns available. It’s no Mood Fabric in terms of quality and selection but is a great option for people on a budget looking for a great find.

Joann http://www.joann.com/
Hobby Lobby http://shop.hobbylobby.com/
Create For Less http://www.createforless.com/
A.C. Moore http://www.acmoore.com/
Beverly’s http://www.beverlys.com/
Yozo Craft http://www.yozocraft.com/