I must be doing something all different. I wear the thimble on my middle finger and it never interferes with pulling the needle, only pushing the needle. I don't pull the needle through the fabric at all really. I push the needle with the thimble until it disappears in the fabric and then it's simple and no effort at all to move the needle and start a new stitch. I can't hand sew without a thimble. It hurts if I don't.