Curved Tailor’s Awl Overview
By the Shibaguyz
Almost as old as the needle itself, the awl has a long history in the sewing world. Originally used for punching holes in leather and fabric, the simple tool has so many more uses that make it one of our close-at-hand tools for all of our sewing on our machines and by hand. Here are a few of the reasons we reach for our Clover Curved Tailor’s Awl:
To pull up the bobbin thread when quilting.
To save yourself a lot of heartache when you are free motion quilting or generally quilting on your domestic machine, it’s important that you bring the bobbin thread to the top of your work. This simple tip will eliminate the dreaded thread snarl on the back of your quilt.
Place your quilt under the presser foot of your domestic machine and S-L-O-W-L-Y turn the wheel toward you by hand making your first stitch (Note: Always turn the wheel toward you, as turning it clockwise will cause your thread to jam). As your needle comes up from below, gently pull the top thread tail back to the top of your fabric and use your Curved Tailors Awl to grab and pull up the bobbin thread to the top of your work. Then, securing both top and bobbin threads, take a few stitches to secure everything… You are ready to quilt without worrying about cleaning up a thread mess on the backside of your quilt. We thread both of these back into our hand sewing needle to anchor and bury those tails at the end of our quilting.
For picking stitches
You’re going to make a mistake while sewing… we all do. The Curved Tailor’s Awl is small enough to use as a thread pick to undo everything from a few small stitches to an entire line of stitches without snagging and breaking the threads of your fabric. Working on the bobbin side slide the curved tip under each stitch and pull the thread out, unworking each stitch. Using this method instead of using a seam ripper will ensure you don’t accidently cut or snag your project fabric. The Curved Tailor’s Awl is especially handy for picking stitches on delicate fabrics to protect them from damage.
As a precision stiletto
Especially handy for working on small pieces, the Curved Tailor’s Awl allows you to maneuver fabric next to your sewing machine needle that is “not behaving.” Use the tip of the awl to gently hold or even coax your fabric edge back into place as you sew. This comes in handy when we are working with small scrap quilting pieces or improve pieces that might not have perfectly straight edges that need eased into place during sewing. The Curved Tailor’s Awl keeps your fingers well away from the pointy needle… and, let’s face it, those Minions bandages are cute but a trip to urgent care to remove a microtex needle ain’t cute… at all… just sayin’.
Our Curved Tailor’s Awl comes into play while sewing together our scrap quilts and improv piecing project. We use the tip to keep our seams heading the right direction and not twisting as we sew.
In short, the simple awl is not just a punchy tool… it is the ultimate multi-tasker and we keep them on both of our work stations grabbing for them as often as a pair of thread snips. We keep our Clover Curved Tailor’s Awl right next to our BERNINA 790+ whenever we are sewing and have one in our project bags for hand sewing and sashiko. This is definitely a tool we don’t let stray far from our work.
Shannon and Jason Mullett-Bowlsby are the dynamic DIY duo known as the Shibaguyz, and the creative geniuses behind Shibaguyz Designz Studio.Their award winning crochet & knit designs have been featured in and on the covers of both US and international publications. Their craft, portrait, and fashion photography has appeared in six books and numerous magazines around the globe. Together, the Shibaguyz team currently has over 300 published patterns and 10 books credited to their names.