Originally Posted by roxannebcb
Boy - I am working on applique about 8 hours per day the last 2 weeks and I need to find a solution.
The big leather ones are too clumsy for me.
The plastic stick on thimble it ones don't seem to work very well.
Can anyone recommend the leather ones that stick on? Where to get them and which one to get? Or am I just not using it correctly. When I put a big thimble on I just stop using that finger. It's too clumsy.
Thanks for everyone's suggestions.
Roxanne
For regular sewing (not quilting) I use a tailor's thimble. It is shaped like a regular dome thimble but the top is missing and it is essentially like a very wide ring that fits around the tip of my finger. There's a rolled edge around the bottom of the ring and a smaller rolled edge around the top of the ring.
Mine has been used so long (over 40 years) that it has shaped itself into an oval shape that fits my finger exactly. I've heard of people using a rubber or rawhide mallet to deliberately shape a new thimble into an oval shape. I've never done it but my guess would be to place the thimble on a soft surface (like a folded towel), give it a gentle tap, try it on, take it off and give it another gentle tap, etc, until it fits.
I still have my childhood thimbles and none of them warped into shape. It must take more than 3 years or so of use to warp naturally. I don't remember ever feeling like my grown up thimble didn't fit but now when I try on a new thimble, I realise my old one is definitely more comfortable.
Once you have a thimble that fits, the only solution I know of is to wear it as much of the time as you can, no matter what you're doing. After awhile, it just feels natural on your finger.
Once you are used to using a thimble, you feel odd using a needle without one on. I don't think I could hand sew without a thimble at this point in my life, it would just feel too strange (and I hate getting needle pokes, even from the eye end of the needle).