Simply Thimbles

  Did you know that before the 1880’s silver thimbles did not need to be hallmarked? No? Well, although the silver used was the correct grade to be classified as sterling, the amount used per thimble was too small making the duty payable for the hallmark more than the thimble was worth. This changed in 1884 when applying for a hallmark became mandatory. Hallmarks or any other kind of marking on a thimble helps to date it. Even the little dimples can help you tell how old it is.   This thimble is hallmarked. They are a bit tricky to read sometimes as they are incredibly small and sometimes are worn, especially when the thimble has been well used like this one. I inherited this one from my mother-in-law, who probably inherited it from her mother. This hallmark gives the makers mark, CH for Charles Horner; the Lion symbol, indicating that it is sterling silver, the mark for Chester Assay office and the date letter. The date letter is for 1897. I mentioned in an earlier post that

Now this is something you don't see every day.  A group of James Bonds all in the same place.  I wonder what you call a group of Bonds? A gaggle? A set? A pride? What about a Hunk?  A Hunk of Bonds.  Umm. That'll do me, unless you can think of something better? From left to right we have Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan.   Did you know that Roger Moore made 7 Bond films?  Neither did I until I read the back of the thimble.  I was also a bit surprised to see that Sean Connery's thimble says he only made 6.  That's odd I thought, so I did a google search and sure enough, Sean made 6 official Bond films and 1 that wasn't official.  It was called "Never Say Never Again" and was made in 1983 - but not by the people that own the Bond franchise. So it doesn't count.  It's also the only Bond film (or rather non-Bond)  that I have never watched.  Cool.  A bit of trivia which might come in handy if I'm

Not all thimbles can be used to sew with. Some are purely decorative. These are a couple of the decorative ones that I have. Technically, the well isn’t really a thimble but it’s thimble sized, has a cute little cat in a bucket and so is therefore, in my opinion, thimble-esque (ish). These three are made out of pewter and are an incredibly small snapshot of decorative thimbles available specifically for today’s collectors market. You can’t sew with these as the decoration gets in the way and they don’t have enough dimples. If using a thimble then dimples are fairly crucial to its success as a sewing aid. Ideally, a usable thimble should have dimples on top and on the sides. It’s amazing how many times it’s useful to be able to alter the angle of the thimble to suit the stitch you are doing. This is why I have never used any of my china thimbles as they don’t have dimples on the sides. Different people like different types of thimbles. Leather thimbles are a popular choice with h

Santa, bless him, gave my girls some Sequin Art kits for Christmas. They love arts and crafts and pretty much sat down all day on Christmas Day, pushing pins through the sequins and into the polystyrene bases. It’s amazing what can keep them occupied. After a while, my youngest began to complain that the tips of her fingers were getting sore. The pins used are normal fabric pins so do tend to leave little dents in delicate little digits. Umm. I said. You know what you need …. Quick as a flash they both cried out “Thimbles!” and dashed to the thimble display units. These are the thimbles they came back with. My eldest picked the red plastic one for its cool colour and lightness. My youngest picked the little silver one because it was just the right size. Good choice I said. It fits so well because it’s a child’s sterling silver thimble and judging from the dints, it’s had a fair bit of use already. The fact that it is silver is probably the main reason why it is so badly dente