I am visiting New York 25 March-5 April 2002.
I live in Northern Ireland and am interested in all crafts, especially machined embroidery. Can anyone tell me of shops selling craft supplies as I might be able to pick up something a bit different.

Hi Rosemary...Fairview, New Jersey, which is right across the Hudson River from New York City is known as the embroidery capital of the world because of its numerous factories...(or it was)...I'll look up the names of manufacturers and post back...in the meantime...there's a chain of arts and crafts stores in the New York area called AC Moore and The Rag Shop...there's an AC Moore in Nanuet, New York (about 20 miles north of the city)...and there's a Rag Shop on Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen, NJ (a few miles north of the Lincoln Tunnel or south of the George Washington Bridge)...these are very large stores with huge inventories of everything an arts and crafts needs and wants...if you want travel directions from the city post back...neither is a long or difficult trip...in the city there's a place called AllCraft at 45 W. 46th St., 3rd Floor, telephone number is (212)840-1860...I know it's especially useful for people who like to make jewelry...there'a an arts and crafts students league associated with the YWCA at 610 Lexington Svenue, telephone number is (212)745-9731.

To add to what Merilee said about the embroidery capital of the world check out http://www.schiffliusa.com.
There's lots of info here on history, links to organizations, and contacts at the association who might be able to give you detailed info on machine embroidery in the US.
As far as the other stores she mentioned, IMO they are nice ( I go to some myself when driving outside the city) but not worth taking time out from a relatively short NYC visit to travel to them. (Again, this isn't meant to disparage Merilee's suggestions as I usually find them to be right on the money--just my opinion in this case).
In NYC proper, the best source for crafting materials (though not especially for fabric crafts) is Pearl Paints on Canal street. Despite the name, they are far from a paints only store. It is a huge old 5 story building with most every kind of craft supply you could think of at excellent prices. Preview their store at their website
http://www.pearlpaint.com/
As far as fabric crafts, NYC is a wholesale paradise for supplies for the garment industry so there are unofficial 'districts' such as fabric suppliers on 39th and 40th streets, between 7th and 8th avenues (near Times Square and the Port authority Bus Terminal). Ribbons, solid and embroidered can be found in stores on 6th avenue near about 38th street (there's a big store there, called, I think M & J or something like that-you can't miss it, and it's just a couple blocks from the fabric stores I've mentioned)
I hope this is the kind of information you are looking for. Feel free to be more specific about your requests--we Fodorites can handle it!

To add to what Merilee said about the embroidery capital of the world check out http://www.schiffliusa.com.
There's lots of info here on history, links to organizations, and contacts at the association who might be able to give you detailed info on machine embroidery in the US.
As far as the other stores she mentioned, IMO they are nice ( I go to some myself when driving outside the city) but not worth taking time out from a relatively short NYC visit to travel to them. (Again, this isn't meant to disparage Merilee's suggestions as I usually find them to be right on the money--just my opinion in this case).
In NYC proper, the best source for crafting materials (though not especially for fabric crafts) is Pearl Paints on Canal street. Despite the name, they are far from a paints only store. It is a huge old 5 story building with most every kind of craft supply you could think of at excellent prices. Preview their store at their website
http://www.pearlpaint.com/
As far as fabric crafts, NYC is a wholesale paradise for supplies for the garment industry so there are unofficial 'districts' such as fabric suppliers on 39th and 40th streets, between 7th and 8th avenues (near Times Square and the Port authority Bus Terminal). Ribbons, solid and embroidered can be found in stores on 6th avenue near about 38th street (there's a big store there, called, I think M & J or something like that-you can't miss it, and it's just a couple blocks from the fabric stores I've mentioned)
I hope this is the kind of information you are looking for. Feel free to be more specific about your requests--we Fodorites can handle it!

Pearl Paint is the only craft supply store I know of here...but it's HUGE. It's located on Canal Street in Chinatown (the western side).