Quilting Stilettos

Have you ever sewn over the tip of your finger with your machine? Scorched yourself trying to press a seam? Ouch! You need a quilting stiletto or stiletto sewing tool.

What is a sewing stiletto? It is a long slender tool with a tapered, metal point which is usually very sharp. A metal stiletto for sewing usually comes with a cap that keeps the point sharp and protects the user from injury.

A sewing stiletto tool may be used in a variety of ways. It can help start fabric under the presser foot, preventing the fabric from balling up. A stiletto for a sewing machine helps you guide fabric under the presser foot in tricky situations where pins don’t work well, such as installing a zipper, matching seams, or joining thick fabrics. It is easy to position fabric accurately with a stiletto—without risking a stitch to your fingers! Some sewists like a stiletto with a curved tip which allows them to pull out stitches and hook bobbin threads.

A tailor’s awl is a more substantial sewing stiletto that is particularly useful for heavyweight fabrics. It can be used to mark fabric for pleats, darts, buttonholes, rivets, and hand-sewn eyelets. You may have seen one and been wondering, what is the curved awl used for? The curved tip helps you create beautiful curved shapes. It is also useful for picking stitches.

Quilting stilettos can also save your fingers while you are working with a hot iron. For example, you can open or flip seams while you are pressing. A stiletto for quilting can hold the edges of mitered seams, appliqué, or fusible bias in situations where your fingers might be injured in close proximity to a hot iron.

Clever sewists have invented variations of the basic stiletto, so finding the best sewing stiletto is a matter of the type of sewing you do and personal preference. 

Many options are offered at Missouri Star: 

• The Seam Fix Tool is a handy device with a stiletto on one end and a seam ripper on the other. 
• The Hold It Precision Stiletto has a heat resistant tip on one end and an angled tip on the other. 
• A finger stiletto is a device fitted onto your index finger. Many sewists like the Sixth Finger Stiletto because it has a Y shape, allowing control over a greater area of fabric. 
• The Tula Pink Tweezer also works well as a stiletto. 
• Last but not least, you may enjoy the ergonomic handle of the Curved Tailor’s Awl.

Whichever sewing stiletto you choose, you will surely produce better projects more easily. And your fingers will thank you!