I am notorious for collecting sewing notions.  My craft room is filled with elastic, threads, buttons, ribbons, spools, pins, rulers, scissors, and marking pens.  Lots of marking pens.  And the reason I have so many marking tools is because I've had a hard time finding something that worked for me.  My near vision is bad, so the disappearing ink is gone before I'm ready to sew.  The chalk pencils are too fat to fit in my pencil sharpener, so they sit around blunt and unused.  The water soluble pens always seem to create marks that I can't wash away.  Luckily, I came across the one item that will allow me to clear my room of all the useless marker clutter:  the **Allary Chalk Cartridge Set**. The reason this chalk set works so well for me is that it is so versatile.  The reusable case holds eight color and eight white chalk refills.  Therefore, if I'm using a dark fabric I can insert yellow or white chalk.  Conversely, the red or blue chalk works well on light fabrics.  The design of the chalk cartridge is brilliant (for me at least).  I tend to have a heavy grip as well as being a bit clumsy, so I had trouble marking my fabrics with standard tailor's chalk and marking pens.  The Allary cartridge features a cushiony grip that handles like a large, comfortable pen.  With a twist of the pen, you can easily insert and extract the chalk to remove, replace, or extend its length.  If I accidentally break the tip of the chalk, the package includes a sharpener.  I can simply loosen the cartridge; then sharpen and extend the length of it (similar to using a mechanical pencil). All in all, this little notion is handy and effective.  The marks brush off as easily as any other chalk product.  The difference is that I can make sewing lines in an assortment of colors, create smooth lines that are heavy enough to see easily, but also remove when I need them to.  I'll probably never use another marking pen again.

LoveisJoy

Chicagoland, IL