Nipakk - leather thimbles or silicone like mine (see comment #40) will allow you to wear them with arthritis. The silicone was my choice because the leathers all seemed to tight. I have actually walked into stores wearing the silicone one because I forgot I was wearing it. ( I was sewing the binding on a quilt, while DH drove, on our last road trip.) I hope this is helpful to you.

I don't use a thimble for piecing. For quilting, I use a basic Hemline metal thimble, the cheap ones you can find everywhere, and I use an Aunt Becky on my underfinger. The Hemline ones come in a few sizes, and since there are sizes smaller than the ones I wear (and I'm 4'11), it's probably a pretty wide range.

One thing that puzzles me is when people talk about using the top of the thimble for quilting. Surely you're meant to use the side, not the top? It sounds really uncomfortable. I'm looking at that silicone thimble and thinking, "But how are you meant to use it when the working part is silicone rather than metal?"

I tried an open-sided metal thimble made by Clover, in the hope that it would be less sweaty, but it was horribly uncomfortable. I've not tried leather since I'm vegan.

I am not good at thimbles, but I love the Clover Protect and Grip Thimble. It is very comfortable, use a Joann 50 % off coupon and it really is a good deal and worth it.

I tried this and can't believe how much better the thimble feels and fits on my finger! I had a cheap metal thimble so I thought why not? I'm so glad I did. The oval shape is the shape of my finger. It didn't take but a couple of whacks to get it just right. Thanks!

I use the thimble dots. They are little adhesive dots and you don't feel like you have armor on! I use them for hand quilting.