Must-Have Tool: Ball Point Awl

The Ball Point Awl is used for making a hole by carefully stretching the fabric without thread breakage, but I use it for just about everything. I love this little awl! It’s awesome for pulling threads out when I can’t find my seam ripper, and it doubles as a stiletto when I need to guide the ends of my sewing through the machine. Turning corners is much easier with the help of this little tool.  If you don’t have one, you should!

My grandmother-in-law was from Sweden and loved to do cut work embroidery.  She would also make eyelet button holes and often used an awl to open the hole for those buttonholes … little round ones. I imagine she would have loved working with the ballpoint awl.

The pillow case in these pictures was started when my daughter was 7. She is now 45. I seriously doubt I will ever finish the set but when I could see better and had the time, this form of embroidery was a favorite pasttime for me. I would use the awl to make the hole in the butterfly wings as it is too small to get scissors into.

The Ball Point Awl is a must-have tool, so treat yourself and add it this multi-tasking tool to your essentials bag. It may not be a trip to the spa, but it certainly is a treat to work with!