Thimbles

I spent the weekend practicing the use of thimbles. Well, first I did some needleturn on the porch on Saturday morning - a beautiful fall day, sunny and just warm enough. My poor third finger is a mess - peeling, swollen, and stabbed beyond its tolerance :) Two full sized quilt bindings, and two blanket stitch applique blocks, had done their damage as I do not use a thimble. I have tried and tried, but somehow I think I developed a way of sewing where I rely on that finger for more than just pushing the needle. But after the third stab of the day on Saturday, I cried uncle.

I went looking for the leather coin thimble I had tried to use at some point, but obviously I hated it more than I remembered as I had hidden it real well and it could not be found. Next up was the wide variety of metal thimbles I had collected from various places over the years. I quickly gave up on the closed one, and was having some success with the open top one.

Mike went off to Walmart on Sunday morning, and I asked him to take a look at the notions wall just to see what they might have (they have recently closed their fabric department, so I wasn't even sure what sewing notions might be kept).

To my suprise, he came home with two fairly good options. They both kind of work! I can't really decide which one I like best, and I'm still applique-ing very slowly, practicing on a little needleturn block - but I think with patience and practice I will get used to one of these and save my finger from permanent damage and callouses.

On the left, "assorted flexible thimbles", 3 in a package, Unique

In the middle, an old metal thimble with open top

On the right, "fingertip thimble", Dritz