Best sewing tool ever?

I bought another new sewing tool. I discovered it when I was researching leather needles before I made Jess's tote bag. Someone described it as something like "the best-kept sewing secret". I decided it was worth giving a try. Here's my new tool:

Yep, it's a hammer! Surprised? I got it from Amazon.com here. Read the reviews, especially the one titled "Best sewing tool ever!" It supposedly works wonders to help when sewing very thick seams. (Incidentally, the price has gone up over $2.00 since I got mine. Maybe the secret is out!)

I did try it out when making Jess's tote. There weren't a lot of thick seams, but there were a couple of corners that had a lot of layers. The corners of the inner pockets had... let me count... eleven layers!!

That's a lot to sew through! So I gave the first two corners each a couple of whacks with the hammer, then sewed them. It worked very well. Then as a test, I didn't whack the next corner. I could definitely tell the difference. My presser foot didn't want to go over that corner nearly as easily. Needless to say, I whacked the last corner before sewing it.

So I'm very pleased with my new tool, and I'm sure it will come in handy often, since I do seem to make a lot of bags.

Oh, by the way, there's a word of caution on the hammer itself. It says, and I quote: "WEAR SAFETY GOOGLES". I hope you read that right. That's what it said - GOOGLES! Haha! See?

I didn't wear any, in case you wondered. Shame on me. :)

And while we're on the topic of tools, remember this applique scissors, and how I wanted something to protect its point?

I read a helpful tip on a blog post recently about using an empty toilet paper roll, flattened, as a sheath to protect knives or whatever. So I decided to fashion one for my odd-shaped scissors. Here you have it:

The toilet paper roll wasn't very attractive, so I covered it with pretty tape, which didn't want to stick to it at all, so I then covered the tape with clear packaging tape. That worked. It's a bit crude, but nothing's going to get poked by the point of that scissors!

As for my sixth-finger-stiletto from that same post, I use it so often that it just stays out on the table near my sewing basket so I can grab it easily. And the hemostats aren't sharp, so I decided they didn't need anything over them when I put them into that bag.