Small holes for sewing

[JamesRiley]

Dwight may be on to something.  Though my problems would apply to any stitching job, so I will be looking into large blunt tip egg-eye harness needles size 4 or 5 (per a board post in the stitching section here), a better awl, one of those palm protectors, and a stitching horse.  But first, I'm going to whine here in case someone wants to shed some light or tell me what to buy when I head into town on Tuesday.  I got 30 cartridge loops out of 40 done.  However, I broke four or five needles and broke the thread about ten times.  I'm using the fake sinew stuff and it's pretty thick and strong, but not tough enough.  I think the interior of the needle eyes may not be very smooth or rounded and they're wearing the thread.  Also, my holes were punched through but they are tight and "heal up".  I have to use plyers to pull the needle through.  The loops look good and they are tight, but damn it's a pain.  End rant.

[fredk]

Two suggestions;

1. get a bit of dowel, drill a small hole in one end, push the square-ish shank of a large size sewing machine needle into the hole. you have one pokey-hole tool.

2 one of these might work for you;

 

and a cork block to push the pokey or needle into as it goes through the leather. you can get one for about a $ or two in a hardware store, as a 'sanding' block. keep to the large size or simply cut it down to a handy size for use