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Thimbles Decorative or Useful

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 hand quilters because they are durable and allow better control as the pressure of the needle on the finger can still be felt. I would like to try a leather one, but haven’t found a stockist yet. The little stick on fingertip pads that are available now also enable you to feel a needle, albeit in a kind of numb way. I have tried these but wasn’t that impressed. They allow a certain amount of needle control but I found that the sides of the little pads pick up dirt and fine threads which can be a bit of a nuisance.



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Comments

  1. Clau11 January 2011 at 15:00

    All your thimbles are beautiful! Congratulations

    ReplyDelete

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