I use the micron pens to trace my hand embroidery patterns. Lead pencil smudge, air erasable don't last long enough, and chalk is messy. I have used silk, different linens, cotton, etc fabrics. The pens are permanent but you can get different colors, like red or black, etc. A lot of hand embroidering, like stump work, may take a good while to do, so a permanent pen is a good thing with all the handling of the fabric while embroidering. The thing about the micron pens is that the tracing line is very fine and your tracings have to be accurately done. However, you need to find what works for you...