An adjustable steel workbench with a rubberwood top set up for leatherwork with a granite slab, leather and hand tools.
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Speedy Stitcher Sewing Awl Review: Lockstitch by Hand

ByPeter Joeseph 'Briefcase Maker' Kalafatis

A pocket tool that ties a knot inside every hole, and the leather trade’s long argument about whether that is enough.

The Speedy Stitcher sewing awl is a wooden-handled tool with a bobbin of waxed thread in its butt and a grooved needle in its nose, sold to campers, sailors and saddle repairers on the promise that one person with one hand-held tool can sew a lockstitch the way a machine does. For leather, the question is where that stitch belongs: a field repair on a strap, a sheath, a bag seam, or nowhere near a piece meant to last. This review draws on the maker’s instructions, retailer specifications, independent written reviews and leatherworkers’ forum reports rather than hands-on testing.

Video: How to use a Speedy Stitcher, from Springfield Leather on YouTube.

How the awl builds a lockstitch

One thread from the bobbin, one free end, and a loop that catches it between the layers.

Hands adjusting the leg height of a steel workbench in a leather workshop.

The method is the product, so it is worth setting out. The maker’s step-by-step instructions start with the needle pushed through the first hole from the back and enough thread drawn out on the front to cover the whole seam plus about three inches. The needle comes back out, goes into the second hole, and is eased back slightly so the thread forms a loop on the far side. The free end passes through that loop, and with the thread held taut the needle is pulled out to lock the stitch. The instructions say the knot should sit inside the layers of the material.

Each later stitch repeats that motion. At the end, the loop from the last hole is drawn through to the back, the thread is cut to leave two tails of about three inches, and the tails are knotted together and trimmed.

Sew4Home’s Liz Johnson, in an illustrated 2018 walkthrough sponsored by Dritz, describes the same sequence in shorthand as punch, loop, pull. She adds the practical detail of holding the back thread taut while pulling the needle to the front, which is what forms the knot between layers.

Jeremy S. Cook’s Skill Builder article for Make: adds two handling notes from his own use: keep the thread out of the chuck lock so it is not crushed, and once the lock is tightened the thread should still pull out of the needle with little effort. For finishing, he offers either a knot or stitching back through the previous holes.

What matters for leather is the structure. Every stitch is two threads interlocked at one point, with one long thread running from a bobbin. That is the same family of stitch a sewing machine makes, and the family the site has compared against the two-needle saddle stitch in why a broken stitch doesn’t sink a saddle-stitched seam.

What comes in the handle

Coarse waxed polyester, two #8 needles, and a smaller #4 sold separately.

Sailrite’s product page for the awl lists the kit as the awl with coarse waxed polyester thread pre-wound on its internal bobbin, a 30-yard skein of the same thread, and two #8 needles, one straight and one curved. Sailrite says the curved needle gives extra purchase when stitching thick materials, and labels the tool as made in the USA. Its price at fetch was $25.35.

The listing’s pitch is broad: canvas and leather repairs, outdoor and camping gear, awnings, tents, saddles and harnesses, sails, auto tops and upholstery. Ace Hardware’s listing for the same kit names leather, canvas and vinyl, mentions saddlery and tack, shoes and belts among its uses, describes the needles as diamond point, and showed 5.0 stars from 36 reviews at $26.99.

The needles themselves are not delicate. Sailrite’s page for replacement #8 needles gives them as 2-3/8 inches long with a shaft diameter of 0.0785 inch, meant for coarse waxed thread and classed for leather, glover’s and sail work. The maker’s FAQ describes the #4 as its smallest needle, for finer thread and delicate fabrics such as a tent rain fly, while the #8 straight suits most jobs and the curved #8 is “great for projects in tighter spaces.”

A needle that thick, pushed by a wooden handle, makes a large hole. That fact comes back later.

The same FAQ opens with a line about the product being around for a century, without a founding date. The instructions page names Silver Creek Leather Co. of Jeffersonville, Indiana, as the company behind it.

What independent users found

Easy to learn, sharp enough to hurt, and slower than a skilled hand with a palm.

A stitching chisel on thick leather over a cutting board protecting a rubberwood bench top.

The written reviews agree on the learning curve. Philip Werner of SectionHiker used the awl to reattach torn strap patches on a pair of gaiters, finishing three of them in under 90 minutes, and reported that “The stitching gets much better with very little practice.” He also warned plainly about the needle, which is sharp and strong enough to go through a hand as easily as through heavy cloth.

Johnson’s Sew4Home test was on soft denim and thick faux vinyl, both of which she found worked well, and on leather and faux leather handles. She had not tried very thick materials. Her criticisms were small and specific: the needles are sharp enough to puncture skin, and the thread hole sits at an awkward angle, especially with softer thread. She recommends clips over pins on real and faux leather.

The most rigorous comparison came from sailmaking. Drew Frye, technical editor of Practical Sailor, seamed two pieces of 6-ounce sailcloth, one with a stitching awl and one with a needle and sailmaker’s palm, using the same thread. His awl was an Awl-for-All, with the Speedy Stitcher named as a common example of the type. The palm was about two and a half times faster and gave better control of tension. With 0.8 mm twine, the awl’s hole was about 47 percent larger in diameter, 0.081 inch against 0.055, and the larger holes let the stitches slip more.

Strength was close. Frye found the seams similar because both methods put two threads through each hole, and he still recommended a saddle stitch, sewn back over the same holes, for maximum strength and to remove the single point of failure that lets a seam unzip. His conclusion was not to throw the awl out. He keeps one for jobs where the back of the work cannot be reached.

Where leatherworkers mark it down

Neatness, strength under load, and a knot that has to hold everything.

Leather makers have argued about lockstitch awls on the Leatherworker.net forum for a long time, and the tone is cooler than the outdoor reviews. In a 2009 thread on sewing awls, TexasJack wrote that the awl stitch “isn’t nearly as neat or strong as a saddle stitch,” and said he moved to saddle stitching after using one. TrooperChuck said he was never satisfied with the results from stitchers. Another member, Kate, said lockstitching is acceptable where stitches will not show much and the seam will not be under a lot of stress, as on some bags with turned seams, and that she uses one now and then on soft leather.

The same thread has the tool’s most useful defender for leather. HorsehairBraider, who did not own a sewing machine, described using a Speedy Stitcher for repairs to knife sheaths, purses and saddles.

A 2012 thread asking for the best leather stitching awl went further. Chief31794 and katsass dismissed hand stitchers as a class, St8LineGunsmith called sewing awls a poor choice for heavy gun leather, and TwinOaks summed up the mechanical objection, writing that a lockstitch is “more prone to unraveling than the saddle stitch,” because in a saddle stitch a cut thread still leaves another holding the seam.

Put next to Frye’s measurements, the complaints line up. A wide needle cuts a wide hole. One thread locks to one other thread at every hole, so a break can run. And the stitch on the face of the work is a single line of thread pulled into a hole bigger than it is, which is why makers call it untidy. None of this stops the awl from closing a torn seam. It does explain why the forum regulars keep it out of new work.

Who the sources say it suits

The repair kit and the job with no back side, more than the bench where new goods are made.

A leather workbench set up for hand stitching with a stitching clam, thread and tools on a pegboard.

The reports sort the buyers cleanly. For someone fixing a strap patch in the field, a split boot seam, a torn tent loop, an upholstery corner or a saddle repair far from a machine, the awl does the job, and every source that tried it found it easy to learn. The Practical Sailor test adds a narrower case where it outright wins: a seam where only one side of the work can be reached.

For someone building leather goods to sell or keep, the evidence points the other way. The makers quoted above, and the sailmaker’s own measurements, favour two needles on one thread with each stitch locked in both directions. That is slower to learn and needs both sides of the work, but it leaves smaller holes for the same thread and no single knot carrying the seam. The choice of hole-making tool matters too, as set out in choosing a scratch awl or a stitching awl.

Thick, firm leather sits in between. Sailrite’s note about the curved needle on thick materials suggests the maker expects heavy work. Johnson’s review stops short of very thick materials, and the leather forum reports do not describe the awl on heavy bridle at all. Without a test on 8 to 10 oz firm leather, nothing here says how the awl copes with it.

What buyers report

High ratings across three retailers, from customers who mostly bought it for repairs.

The Amazon listing showed 4.6 out of 5 from 3,195 ratings in October 2026, at $20.11. Ace Hardware’s page showed 5.0 from 36 reviews. Sailrite’s page linked to its reviews but did not display a rating in the fetched copy, so no figure is given here for it.

Those numbers fit the written reviews: people who wanted a seam closed without a machine got one. They say little about appearance or long-term strength on fine leather goods, because that is not what most buyers asked of it.

Some handling notes recur across the sources and are worth keeping with the tool. Pre-punch or pre-mark holes on firm leather, which Sew4Home recommends and which spares the needle and the hand. Pull out more thread than the seam seems to need, since running short mid-seam is slower than trimming the extra. Hold tension evenly on both ends of each stitch. Pack the needles back into the handle and screw the chuck down after use, which the maker’s instructions also say. And keep fingers off the far side of the work, which every reviewer who used it mentioned in one form or another.

Speedy Stitcher Sewing Awl: The listing this review covers, showing 4.6 stars from 3,195 ratings at $20.11 when checked on October 19, 2026. See it on Amazon (affiliate link).

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. A commission may be earned if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you.

Sources

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