Info About Fabric Marking Pencils, Fabric Marking Pens, and Tailor's Chalk

Fabric marking pencils, fabric marking pens, and tailor's chalk have a variety of uses in sewing and crafting, and the main advantage of all these fabric marking supplies is that none of them leave a permanent mark on your sewing projects.

Fabric Marking Pencils, Fabric Marking Pens, and Tailor's Chalk image courtesy of Pixabay

Using Fabric Marking Pencils, Fabric Marking Pens, and Tailor's Chalk

Fabric marking pencils, pens and tailor's chalk are useful when you're creating your own embroidery designs, quilting, when you're sewing from a pattern and need to mark the darts or areas where basting is needed, and when you're doing alterations on garments or home décor items like curtains.

Try to match your fabric marking pen, pencil, or chalk to the fabric you're using and the type of sewing you're doing.

Fabric Marking Pencils

I especially like fabric marking pencils when I'm working with hand sewing and embroidery projects, though they work well with most woven textiles.

Fabric marking pencils make a light line, though by pressing harder you can make the line darker.

Fabric pencils work great on light weight, woven fabrics, and when the tip wears down, all you need to do is sharpen them in a pencil sharpener.

You may want a dedicated sharpener, though, to make sure you don't end up with regular pencil lead on your clothes or projects.

Fabric Marking Pens

Fabric marking pens make a bolder line on fabric that wipes away either with water or an included eraser.

These are great when you have a harder time seeing the markings.

The ink in fabric marking pens can take longer to clean off than the other forms, plus it can be hard to see this type of ink on dark surfaces, so if you're sewing something like black or navy blue fabric, you might find another option more suitable.

(If you use these pens, please let us know what you think.)

Tailor's Chalk

Tailor's chalk, like shown in the image above, has been around for over a hundred years, and it's still an effective way to mark many types of fabric without creating stains.

The original tailor's chalk was a kind of waxy, chalky crayon that first entered the market in 1906.

I've found there are some things I like to use tailor's chalk for, especially garment making to copy marks from patterns onto fabric - and things I don't like it for - like anything that needs handled a lot.

The 'dusty' nature of tailor's chalk means it can flake away if you handle the piece you're working on a lot.

Video Showing How to Use a Fabric Marking Pencil for Embroidery

In the video, I'm marking the line where I plan to put the chain stitch in this freehand embroidery design.




The line for the chain stitch to follow is the only thing I've drawn out on this design, and I added it because I wanted to show you the fabric marking pencil. 

Each type of fabric marking media - fabric marking pencils, pens, and tailor's chalk - serves a different purpose when you're sewing and crafting because of the way each one stays (or flakes off of) the fabric.

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How to Do the Cross Stitch in Hand Embroidery

I really like doing the cross stitch in hand embroidery as a way to add texture and delicate color to things like baskets (to show the weave) and it makes a charming border, too. It's also used in counted cross stitch.

Hand Embroidery Cross Stitch image courtesy of Pixabay

How to Hand Embroider the Cross Stitch

One popular way to do the cross stitch, especially if you're new to hand embroidery, is by getting an iron-on embroidery pattern to follow.

An iron-on embroidery pattern can actually be a big help when you're first learning this hand sewing technique, because, as you'll see in the video below, it can be challenging to keep your stitches straight when you're doing freehand embroidery.

Steps for Cross Stitching in Embroidery

• Bring the needle up through the fabric from the back side - at the desired starting point. 
• Bring the needle's tip to the next point, on the diagonal, and then push it down through the fabric.
• Pull the embroidery floss until it's snug.
• Bring the needle's tip over to the spot beside the first spot where you brought it up through the fabric. (That sounds a bit confusing, so if I lost you there, definitely check out the video to see it.)
• Repeat the stitching until you've formed all the cross stitches you need to add in that color of embroidery floss. 
• Anchor the stitching with a couple of tiny stitches on the back side of the fabric - positioned so it's under another stitch so it doesn't show. 

Video of Making the Cross Stitch in Hand Embroidery

With this video of the cross stitch, I'm just about through the basic hand embroidery stitches, and I'll be moving into turning the different stitches into a complete design.

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