If you are a tailor, you know the importance of making accurate cuts and stitching along straight lines to create perfectly aligned fabrics that fit perfectly.
Well, to achieve this, you must have some form of marking machine that can easily wipe off after you are done using it. This is where tailor chalks come in.
These tools are basically like regular blackboard chalk but are ergonomically designed to be more comfortable to hold and make thinner markings easily wiped off after use.
This article looks at 5 of the best tailors chalks in the market, with a view of helping you find the most suitable one for your project’s needs.
Our Top 3 Recommendations – Tailors Chalk
“Following are the top three recommended products based on personal experience and customer feedback”
- CampTek Tailors Chalk,Sewing Fabric Chalk & Fabric Markers – (Premium Pick)
- Mr. Pen- Tailors Chalk, 8 Pack, Fabric Chalk, Sewing Chalk – (Runners Up)
- Lohas Select Professional Tailors Chalk – (Budget Pick)
Top 5 Best Tailors Chalk Reviews
1. Ogrmar Professional Tailor’s Chalk
Ogrmar’s professional tailor’s chalk has a triangular shape that aids a lot in the gripping aspect because it fits perfectly between the thumb and index finger to allow you to make precise marks on your fabrics.
This shape is complemented by the chalk’s thin design, which further contributes to a more comfortable grip when making your marks. The thin design also benefits from drawing thin lines, which are easy to wipe off after their purpose is done.
A triangle shape also means that you can use either one of the three sharp edges, just if the other ones get a little bit worn out.
This product is made out of compacted chalk in terms of material, similar to the chalk used on blackboards in classrooms. This gives it a powdery feel, and the resulting marking can be easily brushed off when it is no longer needed.
Quantity-wise, Ogrmar’s chalk comes as a set of 10 pieces, which is quite enough for making a lot of markings. These chalk pieces come in different colors (3 yellow, 3 white, 2 red, and 2 blue), enabling you to create a contrasting line on differently-colored fabrics.
Features at a glance
- Triangular shape gives a good grip for easy holding and 3 marking edges.
- Thin design for creating thin markings
- It is made out of compacted chalk.
- It comes as a set of 10 pieces packed in a carton box.
- It contains 4 different colors (3 yellow, 3 white, 2 red, and 2 blue)
2. Dimecrafts 3 pcs pkg Wax Tailors Chalk
Patch-Works’ wax tailor’s chalk is also a top-rated product in this review, and this is because it works very well, especially in marking dark fabrics.
The product comes as a set of 3 pieces of chalk, colored as yellow, white, and red, and these provide contrasting colors that create visible marks on darker fabrics.
Additionally, they are made out of wax, which acts like crayons to create marks that do not easily come off and may require a hot iron to eliminate them once you are done. The benefit of this is that the semi-permanent markings stick along even as you turn and fix the fabrics for adjustment before doing the actual cutting or sewing along the line.
Wax is also quite strong compared to chalk, making the pieces much stronger and capable of retaining their structure even as they get used up and wear off.
Patch-Works chalks are rectangular in terms of shape, giving you 4 sharp edges that you can interchange between as the others become more rounded the more, as they get used up.
Features at a glance
- It comes as a set of 3 pieces colored yellow, white, and red.
- Made of wax material.
- Rectangular in shape, giving you 4 edges to work with.
- Works very well on dark fabrics
3. Bias Bespoke Royal Tailor’s Chalk
Bias Bespoke’s royal tailor chalk is quite the value pack, coming with 10 pieces at an excellent price. These pieces are differently colored, having 3 white, 3 yellow, 2 orange, and 2 blue pieces.
Structurally, the pieces are made using hard clay, which is just like chalk material. This means that they create powdered markings that easily brush off without using any tool, such as an iron box in wax tailor chalks.
These chalk pieces come in a triangular form in terms of shape, making them easy to grip between the thumb and index fingers. Additionally, this shape gives you three sharp edges to work with.
For improved grip, each piece has the company logo engraved at the center, and this gives a non-slippery hold as you make your mark.
On the downside, this royal tailor’s chalk comes in a small carton box packaging, which is not as good as plastic, but at least the pieces are separated on the inside for neat packaging and easy storage.
Features at a glance
- It comes as a set of 10 pieces.
- Pieces are differently colored (3 white, 3 yellow, 2 orange, and 2 blue).
- It is made using hard clay material.
- Triangular in shape, providing 3 cornered edges to work with.
- The engraved company logo at the center improves the overall grip.
- They are packed in a carton box.
4. Maggift Sewing Chalk
Maggift’s sewing chalk pack is very similar to Ogrmar’s set above, coming as a set of 10 pieces and in different colors (3 white, 3 yellow, 2 red, and 2 blue). This gives you a big enough quantity for making multiple contrasting markings on differently-colored fabrics.
Regardless of the color, each piece is made of a special soft wax powder that does not break easily, making the chalk strong enough to retain its form while in use and when in transit. Soft wax is also non-sticky, which helps create an easily removable mark on the fabric surface.
In terms of shape, these chalk pieces have a triangular design, which has several benefits. First, the shape gives you 3 sharp edges that you can use to make your markings. It also gives you a good grip because the chalk fits perfectly between the thumb and index fingers.
Other features include a thin design for creating thin markings that are easy to brush off and centered grip marks that function in the same way as tire treads, providing additional grip.
Features at a glance
- It comes as a set of 10 pieces packed in a carton box.
- It contains 4 different colors, distributed as 3 white, 3 yellow, 2 red, and 2 blue.
- It is made using a special soft wax powder.
- Triangular in shape.
- Thin design.
- Centered grip marks improve on the grip.
5. BleuMoo Tailor’s Fabric Chalk
BleuMoo tailor’s chalk is the most affordable product in this review but is also highly rated because it easily comes off after use, leaving no scratches on the fabric.
In terms of shape, this chalk has a rectangular design that looks more like a bar of soap, but much thinner and with narrowed edges that are ideal for making narrow marks, easier to brush off after use.
Quantity wise, the chalk comes as a set of 4 pieces, with each having a different color. These are blue, orange, white and yellow. Although they are quite a few, the pieces are quite big in size and cost much less than the large sets containing around 10 pieces.
The pieces are made out of chalk for the material, enabling the markings to come off very easily because chalk creates a powdery line that can be easily brushed off.
However, chalk also makes them a little bit delicate compared to wax, but luckily, the set of four comes packed in a plastic case that makes it easier to transport or store them without breaking.
Features at a glance
- Rectangular in shape with narrower edges.
- It comes as a set of 4 pieces in blue, orange, white, and yellow colors.
- Made out of chalk material.
- It comes packed in a transparent plastic case that makes it easy to store and transport the chalk.
Are You Looking For Tailors Chalk? Here’s What You Need to Consider
Tailor chalks are usually very similar, but there are some differentiating factors between them. These are what you should consider before buying the best tailor’s chalk. They include:
Quantity
The number of pieces per set is important because it shows you the amount of chalk you have at your disposal to work with.
In this case, the more the number of pieces per set, the better, and the more you should consider buying that set.
However, it would help if you also considered the price of the set. If the quantity makes it very expensive, you should consider buying multiple smaller sets if cheaper.
Color
The color usually goes hand in hand with quantity because each chalk piece has a single color. Therefore, the more they are in a set, the more the colors that you will get. However, even with sets of 10 pieces, the maximum number of included colors is usually 4.
Remember, the idea here is to create a clearly visible marking, and thus, as long as you get colors that contrast well with your fabrics, the chalk is good. Some sets even come with 3 pieces and, thus, 3 colors, but they still get the job done.
Therefore, you should select chalk colors depending on the fabrics you will be working on and not just the highest colors. For instance, if you are working on black material, ensure that you have a white chalk piece.
Shape
Tailor chalks are either made in a triangular or rectangular shape. Triangular pieces have a couple of benefits, such as being comfortable to hold between the thumb and index fingers, which helps make exact markings.
Such a shape also gives you 3 cornered edges to use when making your mark. Although this is one less than in rectangular chalks, 3 sides are quite enough to use interchangeably.
On the other hand, Rectangular pieces are usually bigger in size and last longer than their triangular counterparts. However, they might not be as ergonomic to hold as compared to triangular chalks.
Regardless of the shape, it is important to check that the piece has narrowed or thin sides to make markings that are thinner, more precise, and easier to remove once their purpose is done.
Material
Structurally, tailor chalks come in two types. Some are made of hard clay or chalk, and others are made using wax.
Clay/ chalk piece markings are usually easy to brush off because they create a powdery line that can be dusted off once the job is done. However, even as they are straightforward to apply and remove, this can be a weakness because as you toss and turn the fabric, the marking can quickly come off, requiring remarking.
This is where wax-based chalk does well. It forms sort of a semi-permanent marking that looks like a crayon marking on paper. However, the problem with this is that you may require a hot iron to get rid of it once you are done.
If you are working on a light and smooth fabric and you must refer back to the markings every once in a while, and probably for a few days, chalk/ clay pieces are not the best option because they will brush off very easily.
However, if you want a quick and easily removable mark to last for only a few minutes, chalk/clay-made pieces are the best ones to use.
Packaging
Plastic containers and carton boxes are the most commonly used packaging containers. Carton boxes are good, especially because most of them separate the pieces inside neatly for safe transportation without breaking.
However, plastic containers are better because they are waterproof. Chalk, especially the one made of clay, or the actual chalk material, can easily become useless once it soaks up water. For this reason, plastic container packaging is beneficial, especially for storage purposes.
Conclusion
Although tailor chalks may look the same and carry out the same function, the primary difference between them is the material used in their construction.
With this in mind, after going through this article, you should be in a better position to select the best tailor’s chalk that suits your specific tailoring needs.