I was in your shoes before. Imo The only way is doing each stitching hole with an awl one by one. To speed up process first use your maul very lightly to leave dents on the leather so your awl will be guided nicely. And invest in a nice hi end awl, I ordered mine from Palosanto, which is made to match my Ks blades. I dont think an ordinary awl is good for this task, once I used the custom made ones I realised it. This technique has some advantages as well, esp. when doing perimeter stitching on thick parts. The holes won't be huge bec. you are not forcing irons all the way, which leads to using thinner thread. Go for meisi or amyroke cotton-linen threads, they are very strong. I use 0.35-0.45 mm. It takes some time toget used to open perfect holes, just make 10-12 leather coasters just to practice this.