I find antler a bit too soft for very fine awls but a bit of shin bone, or even rib is good.
Think triangular. Cut in two parallel lines at about 60o angles so that they meet in the bottom of a kind of groove, the piece that comes out is the blank for making your awl or needles. It can be flatter than this if you want, but at 60o you can then round it off more easily, one of those spongey sanding blocks works quite well, but the smell of bonemeal will torment your cat and dog into a furry nuisance
The cutting/scribing lines can be tapered if you want, it's just easier I find to actualy get a suitable blank out of the bone/antler first and then do the shaping afterwards.
There *have* to be more experienced folks than me on the forum at this.
Drilling the eyehole can be done by a flint chip or you can just use a bowdrill or even a dremell
Cheers,
Toddy