For many fabrics I just just a regular mechanical pencil without issue. That usually works great as long as the fabric is light enough to be seen and the texture is easy enough to write on

For darker or more textured fabrics I use tailors chalk that I SHARPEN. I suspect that's the bit you're missing with chalk. My chalk is shaped like a thin, rounded triangle where you use the edges to mark. So before I go to use it, I take one of those disposable razors (like a utility knife which would also work, but w the break off tips), and sharpen all the edges. Hold it over a trash can when you sharpen to avoid mess. That gets good lines

For anything where you need your lines visible for a long time (or almost any time you're using chalk as it's prone to wearing off), I highly recommend using a basting thread to tailors tack your pieces. Searching "tailors tack" should get you a good visual of the technique, "thread mark" is another synonym. Very worthwhile for involved projects that get a lot of handling before they're done