Do you guys use a tailor’s awl for sewing? I find it to be an excellent tool, perfect for marking everything from buttonholes to darts. I know it can be a bit intimidating to punch a hole in your precious fabrics, but if we get over that fear we will be rewarded with a really quick way to to mark all sorts of things. This is also a tool that is common in the sewing industry, and why not nick a trick or two from them!
Here are four tutorials where I use an awl:
The quick and easy way to sew darts
How to mark pleats with an awl
Making many buttonholes quickly
Doing rivets on jeans
4 Comments
Kristin
August 27, 2016 at 5:47 pmI couldn’t live without my awl! I use it to help me manipulate the fabric under the foot, to rearrange the ease when setting in a sleeve, and even to pop open the throat plate so I can clean my machine.
Johanna
August 28, 2016 at 9:02 amI love it too for feeding fabric, but I never thought about using it for the plate but that’s a great idea. I often find myself using my fingers and nails to open it, and that is not very effective 🙂
Alysia
July 20, 2018 at 12:24 pmI just bought a tailor’s awl – because I made a hand sewn eyelet (first time & I’ve been sewing for decades) and had to grab my only awl from my toolbox – which is old and kind of rusty so that one is going back into the (regular) toolbox. But yeah – they’re good for hand sewn eyelets, too! 🙂
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May 2, 2021 at 5:42 pm[…] Four ways to use an awl for sewing […]