August 16, 2013

I'm blogging about a thimble

I had to ask myself when I sat down to write this post, am I the kind of person who blogs about a thimble? The unavoidable answer is... yes. Yes, I am. Read it and weep, interwebs.

Here's the thing about thimbles: they're obnoxious. They make my finger sweaty. I have to take them off to do anything like knot threads or use my scissors. Thimbles fall off, they look silly. You know what I'm talking about. So, even when I have a thimble I usually don't use it. I push that needle with my thumbnail until it aches.

One day while hand sewing I noticed that not only was my thumbnail sore, but so was the knuckle of my middle finger. Here I thought I was a thumbnail pusher, but no! I instinctively start to push the needle with my knuckle but then switch to my thumbnail because, of course, pushing with the bare knuckle hurts. Hmmm. A thimble that went just around the knuckle would be so much more elegant than one over the whole fingertip, wouldn't it? I started looking closely at the notions section of the fabric store.


Here is what I selected.

That little green string pulled out immediately. That's fine, because fixing it allowed me to adjust it to fit just-snug-enough on my knuckle. In addition to making the thimble tighter, I also pulled off the little plastic piece (it's not even glued on, it just pops off). That makes the thimble more pliable and easier to wear with the dimples on the side of the knuckle, which is precisely where I push the needle.


Caution: removing the plastic backing is removing the thing that protects you if a needle goes through the leather. I've only had the needle push through the leather once and it was with a very skinny needle that I was pushing way too hard on. Consider yourself warned.


 So, to any other knuckle pushers out there, that's my hot tip. Free your fingertips! Save your thumbnails! Get knuckle thimbles!








9 comments:

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

Great post. I'm going to check that out.

Annemiek said...

randomly surfing I came across your post. I've used that thimble for years and it worked fine for me. The only thing that bothered me was that the needle goes rather deep in the leather, causing breakage of my needles and the needle punctured the plastic quickly. I found a metal alternative: "the adjustable ring thimble" (also clover). It's exactly the same, but from metal. Only thing I have to do is bend it into an oval shape (it's round) to fit my finger. Thought you'd like to know....:)

Suzanne said...

Who knew!? I'm glad I now do. :-)

Amanda @ BedTime Quilting said...

I'm glad you blogged about it! I have the me problem, but figured I just needed callouses! Awesome and thank you!

Elsa said...

I've been using one of my small plastic omnigrid rulers to push needles ~ I'll have to check this out! I'm not one for thimbles either ~

Anne-Lise at Rag, Tag, Bobtail said...

I hate thimbles, so thanks for this post :-)

Sarah Craig said...

Smart girl!!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you're the kind or person who blogs about thimbles. I hadn't heard of this before. I'm sure it will be helpful in the future. I can't say that I pay attention to how I push a needle, but I don't like thimbles, and, judging by the reddish hard lump that is on the side of my right middle finger, but nowhere to be found on my left middle finger, I think I might be a knuckle pusher too :)

LindieLee said...

Thank you so much for your post. I've tried a multitude of thimbles that were virtually worthless to me. Having the right tool for the job is invaluable. I'm going to get one of these!

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