I have been working up to sewing the skin for a new foldable kayak, as astute readers of this forum are aware.

I have found two tools useful in this process which I have not seen mentioned in the standard books or on the forum pages.

For sewing loops on cloth, it is often useful to have some extra hands or clamps to hold the loop in place while one sews. Unfortunately, the edge of the loop is not always near the edge of the cloth where it would be convenient to use a spring clamp to hold the loop. However, if both sides of the cloth are available, the loop can be held in place with two magnets.

Second tool useful in this kind of sewing is a hand sewing awl. It has been mentioned on the Baidarka list, but I have not seen it here. A picture of one of several similar awls is included below. A "Google" search for "sewing awl" will reward you with several sources. I bought one at a Michael' Craft Store (where they did not know they had them in stock.) Look with the leather lacings and such.