I have tried a LOT of thimbles over the years, and until recently, just wished that my middle right finger would just be thick and leathery and calloused forever so I wouldn't have to deal with re-callousing it whenever I had to do a bunch of hand sewing! I hate metal thimbles because I can't feel my needle and they are slippery. I tried a leather thimble but had a similar problem--it was either too thin and didn't protect me, or it was too thick and I couldn't feel the needle. I also had a problem with sizing--even a tiny bit too tight and my finger goes numb. Too loose and it just falls off and is lost forever.
This changed a few months ago when I went in to Honey Bee Quilt Shop in Austin to see if they had any good batiks for my Catan Quilt ocean hexes. When I was at the checkout, I saw this display and was amazed because I had never seen plastic thimbles before, nor had the ability to try on a variety of sizes. They were only 50 cents anyway, so I got bought a yellow thimble.
IT CHANGED MY LIFE!
It fit perfectly, and it was thin and bendy enough that I can feel where my needle is while I'm sewing. It's sped up my hexagon basting and sewing game quite a bit, which matters when you have 400ish hexes to do!
I've been sitting on this post for a while but last week Abby Cox posted a great (and very passionate) explanation about thimbles that might be helpful here!
The main things I gathered from her video are:
1. Get the right size thimble
2. Wear it on the middle finger of your dominant hand
3. It's okay if you don't know how to use a thimble, there is a learning curve
4. Modern thimbles are not awesome
I ended up going back to Honey Bee Quilt shop and buying 4 more in case I lose or misplace or my kids steal them! Not gonna lie, Abby's video made me want to go and find a pretty antique thimble, but uncertainty about my size has stopped me for now. Maybe someday!
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