Carol has found a source for sewing hammers at American Science & Surplus -one of my most favorite places to shop; I love this company. This hammer comes with 5 screw in tips; you’d use the plastic tip for sewing. You can see a picture of a sewing hammer in this previous post.
Amended 6/25/10:
Someone told me this product is now available on Amazon. This sewing hammer
Okay, when I first read “sewing hammer” I thought it was a joke. But now I realize it is a real tool. What is it used for? Punching holes in leather to create holes for sewing? I’m more than willing to wave this flag of ignorance, I guess.
Sewing hammers are great for sewing! How many times have you tried to sew through too many layers and the needle will fight you and you end up with skipped stitches? Well, you give it a good whack (or two). Ever have trouble joining a four way seam? Well, hammer it before you sew and the ease of sewing will amaze you. Have problems top stitching pocket corners? Give it a whack. Sewing hammers are a great solution if you don’t have a walking foot and just need occasional seam compression.
I see, so you literally just pound a seam flat to make it fit through the foot better. This makes perfect sense to me and I can see it being very useful on one of the bags that I’ve been having a hard time with in this new thick wool.
Thanks again. A plethora of thanks, I truly do appreciate it.
I’ve been using a regular hammer since Kathleen first mentioned this, and it has indeed been helpful (although I’m clearly underutilizing it!).
Kathleen, what do you figure are the advantages of the sewing hammer?
Bump, commenting to let people know this has been updated. Someone told me this product is now available on Amazon. This sewing hammer
is exactly the one I use.
Is there a good reason why I should buy the Stanley sewing hammer and not use the rubber mallet I already have?
I suppose the difference could be described as the difference in seam quality btwn home and industrial machines. If you can’t tell the difference in stitch quality and don’t have a point of comparison having never used a hammer and are only sewing to please yourself, then a mallet is dandy.
I can only tell you about the one time I used a mallet; to me it looked gauche and loutish. Sometimes crude is all you need. You don’t build a shipping crate out of fine black walnut and miter all the corners.
At a point in between the rubber mallet and the plastic-faced hammer, I use a 1 pound slim-face deadblow hammer in stylish blaze orange. Just in case I find myself sewing outside during hunting season.
Slightly more seriously, most rubber mallets have a fairly wide face. A narrower face (less than 2 inches across) would be beneficial here.
You’re incorrigible Stu. Re: stylish. I should reword that: “the one time I used a mallet; the result looked gauche and loutish.”
I need more precision, 2″ is way too wide for me. Face size was precisely what I didn’t like about the mallet I used (2 1/2″?). My sewing hammer is 1 1/4″. I could see going slightly smaller but not bigger.