There are some good suggestions in this thread. The main idea is to get good steel. My master made his set of personal stabbing awls out of umbrella shafts. He taught me the following;
Diamond shape the shaft. If you bought an awl blade and it bulges slightly behind the point, grind it down. The entire awl shaft should be one gradual delicate taper if it is straight. Polish the awl after getting it smooth with your stone. It'll slide through the leather that way and, if your stab is straight and even and not forced or twisted, will go thrugh almost anything.
When stabbing, whether clamping the leather or holding it, the diamond length of the shaft ought to be perpendicular to the edge of the leather and the spacing between stitches should be about the thickness of the edge formed by the two pieces of leather.
If you are using two needles (one needle is accurately referred to as tacking)and draw them tight they will stretch the diamond shape of the hole you stabbed and that helps reinforce the stitch a little.
The master taught me well in how to taper the thread end, use smaller needles and tighter stitches and that is visible in the work you put out.
The handle of your awl should be a little more than the a half inch wider that the width of your palm unless you are using a large shaft. The little knob on the end makes it easy to wrap your pinky around the neck and keep the awl in your hand, and the button it forms can help you flatten the stitches.
Once he taught me these techniques, I never deviated from them and folks are coming back to me with shoes I sold them twenty years ago where the stitches on the uppers are still neat and flat.
Hope this helps
Greg Geiger
The Still River Cordwainer
