Excellent first attempt, so happy you took the plunge! Your arm muscle will get stronger as you go along and wont hurt so much. Machinger gloves work great. I prefer using the rubber finger tips (the kind you get to count money). I bought a box of 12 at Office Max for just a few bucks. They work great. I only used it on my thumb, index and middle fingers and it gives me much better control of the fabric.