thimbles

Let's talk about thimbles.
Different kinds
different uses
different shapes, materials, everything.

My question: Any tricks for sewing with a thimble that is too large and wants to fall off?

I've been known to smoosh them into an oblong shape. It will hug your finger pad and nail.

I've (gently)tapped them down with a hammer, to flatten & snug them up, a bit of beeswax to coat the inside can snug it up, too. Once, I put a rubber bandloosely on my finger, to fatten it up, lol

A little bit of a band-aid on your finger? Or that paper tape for holding cotton pads over a wound?
How much space needs to be taken up?

It's a horn thimble so I'm not sure squishing is a possibility.  I'm thinking maybe a bit of felt inside?

That would be more comfortable, and entirely less damaging, I think.

r ranson wrote:It's a horn thimble so I'm not sure squishing is a possibility.  I'm thinking maybe a bit of felt inside?

Are you familiar with the stuff called "moleskin" which is sold for sticking on one's skin to stop a blister from things like ice skates on people who only wear them once/year? So it's sticky back with very soft, slippery material on the front. Some small pieces of it might stick inside the thimble easily. It's artificial, but it would help you have a sense for how much you need, and it's removable, so you can mess with it to get things right and then consider a more permanent solution (I'm not sure what glue works with horn in the long term) that is a natural fiber such as felted wool.

I don’t know how much you love your horn thimble and that particular (over-the-finger-tip) type of thimble, but if you’re not too attached, consider this: The more time I spend hand-sewing (and I’ve always preferred it to machine sewing), the more enamored I become of the Japanese sashiko-style ring thimble that slides down your middle finger and protects the pad at the base of it so that you can push from there instead of a finger tip. I find it increases my speed and dexterity quite a bit for the running stitch or any straight stitch once I get used to the different method. I prefer the leather type to the metal type. When my first one wore through, we discovered that it could be used as a template to cut a new one from an old boot. They’re tied with a piece of elastic string, so they’re easily adjustable to your finger diameter. I can send a picture and/or a drawing of the shape to cut out later today or tomorrow if you’re interested, r!

Beth Wilder wrote:

I can send a picture and/or a drawing of the shape to cut out later today or tomorrow if you’re interested, r

I don't know about "r", but I'd definitely be interested in both (picture and pattern - ideally put a ruler on the pattern so we can scale based on how it prints if I decide to print it). I use a thimble, but found I had to use it on my ring finger because it interfered with other steps if it was on my middle finger, but even that was a compromise, and the same thimble won't fit both fingers! I don't mind machine sewing, but there are always situations where hand-sewing is the better option.
Thanks J.

I'm another big fan of "alterna-thimble", as a person with fingers that are not the size thimble-makers considered. I have a nice one made of deerskin (no metal insert, just leather) that I love.

If I had a too-big thimble, I would also go with a bandaid or a piece of something comfy (scrap of old sweatshirt, felt) that could go inside and make the thimble fit snugly. Generally I'm too busy cursing the person who made such a stinking small thimble, though.

Jay Angler wrote: don't know about "r", but I'd definitely be interested in both (picture and pattern - ideally put a ruler on the pattern so we can scale based on how it prints if I decide to print it). I use a thimble, but found I had to use it on my ring finger because it interfered with other steps if it was on my middle finger, but even that was a compromise, and the same thimble won't fit both fingers! I don't mind machine sewing, but there are always situations where hand-sewing is the better option.
Thanks J.

Sure, hopefully these below are helpful! (This site also describes how to use one, with pictures.)

You might try a cot.  They are made out of latex and fit over your finger (for medical use).  It will fill up the thimble a little more and the latex will keep the thimble from sliding around. They have them in pharmacies and on Amazon. They come in different sizes. Their cheap.

Maybe a piece of thin window weatherstripping, sticky one side, soft on the other.

Sorry to take this thread on a tangent, but I liked the links Beth Wilder posted and wanted to try it. I didn't have any shoe leather, but I had an old pair of leather gloves which had been damaged, so I cut 3 layers and ended up with what's pictured below. I've got a project I want to try using it with, but thought I'd post this step:

Sorry to continue the tangent, but that looks great, Jay! I've found Atsushi Futatsuya's tutorials to be very helpful. Here's one on sashiko stitching using a sashiko thimble below. For mending something thicker like denim or where you've got multiple layers of fabric because you're patching, everything is stiffer and more difficult to wiggle back and forth like he demonstrates, but the use of the thimble -- although he uses a metal thimble, not a leather one -- is about the same:


Can you see the way he pushes the needle with the top of his palm (like, you know, where so many of my garden tool calluses are), where the thimble rests against it at the base of his finger? If you can't see it clearly, try this other video of his.
[Edited to correct the name of which of the family I believe does the sashiko tutorials.]

This is such a great introduction to thimble use.  

For whatever reason - or multiple reasons - I wear my metal thimble on my ring finger rather than my middle finger. I don't know if that started because the thimble I have is just a little too small for my middle finger, but using it there feels really awkward.

I noticed from watching the Bernadette Banner videos, that she appears to have a leather thimble on her middle finger, soooo... a micro-project was in order!

1. Hubby had an old pair of leather gloves with holes in places. I cut off an undamaged finger tip. It, of course, was *huge* on me!
2. With it turned inside out, I cut it to width and stitched the two sides to fit my finger with enough give that it would still fit once turned so the seams would be inside.
3. I intentionally made the "front" (palm side) larger than the "nail" side because I didn't want the seams to end up where I was trying to work with a needle.
4. I tested out - it's awesome. The leather is thick enough that even if working with slightly tough material, the needle didn't poke through. Being leather, it gives when I move, and it isn't slippery like the metal thimble. The top is a little wonky, but not enough to be a problem.
5. One of the things on my "Todo" list is to make a "hussif". I want it to be practical to take the tools I'm likely to need, so I really wanted a thimble in it and the metal thimble would require fancy sewing to accommodate its shape. Now I'll just need a regular pocket to hold my new leather thimble - or maybe I'll just need to make a second!

There's a PEP Textiles badge for leather thimble making, but it's not up at this time, so I thought I'd post here to inspire future PEP BB collectors!

r ranson wrote:Let's talk about thimbles.
Different kinds
different uses
different shapes, materials, everything.

My question: Any tricks for sewing with a thimble that is too large and wants to fall off?

Horn thimbles can be reshaped by immersing in boiling water to soften, and worked while 'hot' to shape it,  then air cooled ...

Use pliers or similar to hold horn in the hot water for a few seconds at a time until horn becomes moldable...

When I was just out of high school, (back in '71), I was making and selling tipi's out of heavy canvas.  My dad was the Singer Sewing Machine dealer and repairman, so I had a good heavy duty sewing machine, but found there was a lot of by hand sewing involved also.

It was difficult to push that heavy needle through several layers of canvas so I was using a piece of wood to help.  My mom saw this and said there was an invention called a "thimble" for just that purpose.

Up until then I thought the thimble was for keeping the needle from sticking into your finger, but mom said no, it was for pushing.

Sure made my work a lot easier!

I want to buy a better fitting thimble.

that is all.

I noticed it is REALLY difficult to find good thimbles.

The sewing shops I've gone to over the last few years have this ugly thimble cast from pot metal with a slippery silver coating.  The coating peals off as you use it and the dimples are just ridges so the needle slides around.  They are also devilishly heavy.  

If anyone sees a good source of thimbles, please share it in this thread.

r ranson wrote:I noticed it is REALLY difficult to find good thimbles.

If anyone sees a good source of thimbles, please share it in this thread.

Wow! I looked at thimbles at my go-to shop and there are cheap ones as you describe, but anything fancier was in the $15 to $23 range.

This one looked interesting: https://www.clothcastle.com/shop/c/p/Clover-6017-Open-Sided-Thimble-Small-x28142057.htm  but at the online store they wanted $18.49 Can - ouch!

Their coin thimble: https://www.clothcastle.com/shop/c/p/CLOVER-6014---Coin-Thimble---Medium-x28142080.htm  is even more at $21.99!

There's an Canadian on-line source I was going to look into ordering from it, so I will check there later.

With my sewing style, I use the side, nail, ball, and tip of my finger, depending on what stitch I'm doing.  So I'm very much wanting one that covers the whole tip... which makes it harder as there are some beautiful tip thimbles.  

I wonder if the kind of thimble we need has to do with the direction we are sewing?  I'm usually sewing with the needle point towards me.  Most people on youtube I see are sewing away from them or to one side.  

r ranson wrote:With my sewing style, I use the side, nail, ball, and tip of my finger, depending on what stitch I'm doing.  So I'm very much wanting one that covers the whole tip... which makes it harder as there are some beautiful tip thimbles.

 I change not only based on the stitch, but also on how tough the material is that I'm going through (or how many layers.) I tend to hold the needle in a tripod pinch, or with my middle finger slightly back from the thumb and index, so I need to be able to pinch with the thimble as well as push.

I wonder if the kind of thimble we need has to do with the direction we are sewing?  I'm usually sewing with the needle point towards me.  Most people on youtube I see are sewing away from them or to one side.  

I am *totally* inconsistent! Towards, away, to the right, to the left. I don't know whether to use my dyslexia as an excuse, or my tendency to being ambidextrous? I don't sew with my left hand, although if I needed to sew some sort of upholstery and couldn't get my right hand in, I'd probably try with my left without thinking, as I do with many hand tools and some power tools.

Bestest Thimbles EVER!!!



Found at thimbles and more on etsy

R Ranson, they're certainly adorable, but would the one on the right actually, maybe work? The one on the left sure won't! It's like seeing all the ceramic thimbles - works of art, but I'm hoping for a little old-fashioned practicality here and wondering if one of my local jewelry-makers could make one out of silver. Gold would be too soft and two pricey for sure! We might need to make a cast of the finger you want this to fit on R!

I agree, completely impractical, expensive, no size information.

But... CHICKENS!!!

Chickens!

I would just have them on my desk to admire.  

Chickens!  

@ r ranson: I discussed this issue with a friend of mine. Thimbles really do need to be a precise fit. Modern alternatives aren't looking that good to me. My friend thinks you'd be better off checking every thrift shop/antique shop you can find.
1. Some older thimbles are of "stamped" manufacture - that makes all those "dimples" easy to make. I asked my friend if he could make one out of silver and he figured that making those dimples by hand would take a day and a half, so asking a local to make you a silver one wouldn't be that practical.
2. He also suggested that old silver ones aren't all that uncommon, so if you aren't allergic to silver, antiques shops may have some for you to try.
3. If you want extra friends/family to help you hunt, you might want to consider dipping your finger tip in warm wax, removing it carefully, and making a plaster mold for people to use for sizing.
4. If your hands tend to change size a lot, get someone to use their "ring sizing" tools to check the approximate size of the finger, give you a diameter, and then collect a number of thimbles starting at the smallest diameter you think you will need, up to the largest. (in which case I wouldn't bother with item 3).

I am amazed how specific the size needs to be - as I mentioned, the thimble I have the fits my ring finger comfortably, is just *not* comfortable on my middle finger. This really is an issue with no simple solutions!

Okay, I picked up and have been trying an assortment of different thimble styles.  So far my favorite has been the leather with a coin.  If I need more grip from the finger I wear it upside down.  I find I still have enough dexterity to thread needles while wearing them.

Those adjustable metal ones are decent on my thumb when I need a harder push.  Mine has a ledge right at the tip that holds a needle at the best leverage point.

I have been watching some of the sashiko videos where they seem to have leather thimbles for the base of the fingers into the palm.  Then there's leather ring thimbles and the finger cotes. I am wondering if anyone is using leather work gloves instead of fussing with tiny targeted bots of protection. I think I have some gardening gloves with leather reinforcement in all the key areas so if I can dig them up that should probably be my next experiment.

I am a sucker for old sewing notions. When I’m treasure-hunting (haunting the yard sales, thrift shops, and antique shops), I routinely will sift through any bagged/jarred sewing miscellany to see if there’s any that have a thimble or two visible. Those get a more careful consideration than others. Doing this, I’ve accumulated a number of thimbles with actual sizes stamped on them; this has been an enormous help in finding which thimble sizes and styles work best for me at a very low cost. (Vintage needles in these lots are nearly always better quality than most modern ones, to boot!) My current favorite is a tailor’s thimble, which doesn’t have a top. I’ve found it a more forgiving fit, as I can push it down further on my fingertip and it holds.

Does anyone else have difficulty with their thread fraying or breaking when using a thimble? I’m sure this is my technique; it seems like the thread ends up caught between the the thimble and needle and over a number of stitches that friction causes breakage. Has anyone had that happen and trained themselves out of it?

Not that, but I was continually dropping the needle or pulling the needle completely off the thread and so having to rethread over and over again.  I will have to start attending more garage sales.  If I am going to be making clothing I might as well as details like ribbons around the hem.  It's rare for me to see a garage sale where they aren't  getting rid of spools of unused ribbon.

Actually, this company still makes sized metal thimbles with both open and closed ends. https://www.csosborne.com/sewingtools.html

I picked up some leather yesterday with the goal of making a leather thimble.