SewlineWhite Ceramic Lead fabric pencil and Lead

I bought this for gridding on black aida for cross stitching. It is very easy to mark my 10x10 squares and the fact it's a thin piece of chalk means the lines are nice and sharp. It has removed off my fabric easily too when the time came to wash it. I liked it so much I bought a second one for my friend who also stitches.

I'm a precise quilter, I want seams to be very straight, fabric to be even, and corners to match. I'm also kinda broke. So when it came to tracing seam allowances on 4" squares I made a tracing square from an unsuspecting CD case and used a mechanical pencil. It worked OK, kinda, and I'm stubborn.Except I was using a fabric that, though it was cotton, had a texture more like silk. I loved it, but it bunched and shifted when I ran the pencil over it. The only solution was to hold the tracing square down *hard.* That hurt my writs so I used my elbow, moving my elbow every half-inch or so to keep the fabric in place. And it was very dark fabric, so I had to go over each section several times to make the line strong enough to see. Tedious, awkward, and boring. I instinctively put off doing it. And put it off. And put it off.I also kick myself when projects sit around collecting dust, so I realized what the problem was: tracing these squares sucked.Enter Sewline White Fabric Pencil. I chose it over others because reviews stated that the marking held up well to handling, the grip seemed about as wide as a normal pencil (larger grips are uncomfortable for me), and the markings came off easily with a damp cloth or in the wash. I've found all of this to be true.The lead is a tiny bit thicker - and therefore makes a wider mark - than I'd like, but the lead only gets thicker as you wear down a flat spot at the tip as you use it, so I use an old drafting trick and rotate it as I draw lines. The marks are nearly as thin as the .5mm mechanical pencil's I'd been using. The lead is also a little softer which is probably why they made it thicker so it wouldn't break, and the softer lead means it makes a stronger line than my standard mechanical pencil.I find the grip quite comfortable. It is about the same size as a regular pencil and made of a softer, slightly textured plastic that's less slippery than the hard plastic the rest of it is made from, making precise work easier. The clip and the tip are both made from metal so I'm not worried about them breaking. It has a built in eraser if you don't want to or can't wash or use a damp cloth to get the marks off, however it doesn't work very well and you have to do a lot of erasing to make the line fade away, so it's a very good thing it's one of those twist up for more kinds because you will need more. Also, if the eraser accidentally twists up while bouncing around in a craft bag as mine did, you may have to push down on it while twisting counter clockwise to get it to go down. It also comes with more leads, which should keep me going for a long time. A feature I like is that when I press the lead back in to keep it from breaking off when you put it away, the little tip that holds the lead goes back with it. It's less likely to poke through a pocket, and keeps the lead nice and safe inside the pencil.My only complaint, and it's a very minor one, is that it's not the same color as the red and semi-clear white in the photo. Mine is white and dark neon pink with butterflies. Very cutesy. I'm not mad, I just prefer my cute butterflies in person, not on my pencil.All in all, if I somehow lost this I'd replace it in a heartbeat. Even with the butterflies!

Writes very light but fine, should last quite a while

I bought it to mark dark fabric. I wish it was a little softer lead, but I am able to see the line on my fabric in spite of that. I just draw the line multiple times.

Every quilting people should have this!!It works great

I must admit I was skeptical about this item and wondered if it would work on the heavy-duty fabrics I use in my shop? So many claim to work, but end up in the trash.Thankfully this item works perfectly.My only advice to anyone using it is DO NOT drop it. The chalk/lead inside will break into little pieces. Just like a regular mechanical pencil.

Works great on black walnut.

I used mine on a dark green cotton/quilting type fabric, and it took many repeated strokes over the same area to even get light visibility. I expect a little bit of that with marking pencils, but this was frustrating. Then you try pressing harder to make a brighter line, and the lead breaks. I ended up digging out a watercolor pencil from my art supplies and using that instead. This pencil might be more suited to rougher materials--perhaps it would work more easily on say, denim. One nice aspect was the fine tip---when you could finally see your line, it was nice and thin. Hope this helps.