Stitching Holes... with a drill??

[Squid61]

Or, you could punch, or glue and punch, a managable thickness then glue the remaining piece(s) and punch them with your awl.

[Hags]

How about using a drill press or punch to do a "pilot hole" so it would be straight,  then using the awl to angle the hole as desired? 

[chiefjason]

I use an awl chucked into a drill to punch my stitch holes in most of my stuff. 

On thick welts I do use a drill for the holes.  I doubt an awl would go through that many layers straight.  Actually don't see much of a difference in the two.  

[Bert03241]

I've tried all these methods, Laser cut holes which works great but leaves a char on the inside of the hole, I know how to get around that but also takes a lot out of the laser cutting tons of holes. Chisel thru 2 layers of 7to 8oz vegs lots of pounding and trying to get the chisel out is a pain Dremel with a 1/16 bit thats the ticket. 7 to 8 oz your using a thick thread so fills the holes and I think looks great. But like everyone says to each his own. If you like it and it works for you go for it.