Thimble substitutes?

LOL!!! Love that response NightMist. How true it is!!

I never could keep a thimble on my finger(s). I found a leather thimble years ago that actually worked for me. It's leather but there's a metal shield inside it for 'pushing'. Here's the closest to what looks like what I use

. NAYY I have three, middle finger, ring finger and thumb. Depending on what I'm doing I sometimes wear all three at once. If you just hang in there and use it for awhile the very soft, thin leather conforms to your finger and you don't even realize you're wearing it. Better to get a smaller size, they stretch at first. Has an opening on top so your finger nail doesn't bash against the inside. I even sometimes wear one on my right index finger and I can still handle a needle. I love these!

Also, a trick shown me by a nurse during an extended hospital stay. I was doing a lot of hand embroidery (forgot my thimbles) and my fingers and thumb were pretty chewed up and so-o-o-o sore. She dabbed my finger tips and thumb with straight liquid Betadine during her night shift. In the morning my fingers were not only healed and not at all sore but they seemed to be...umm.. 'tougher'...for lack of a better word. I have a little bottle of Betadine I keep in my sewing stuff just to dab chewed up and punctured fingers, heals really fast and they don't get sore. I also got some little foil wrapped Betadine swabs from my doctor, I keep these in my embroidery box, handy for punctures when you aren't at home. Just something you might give a try.

Val

I keep one of the "thimble-pads" on the side of my thread clippers for when I sew on bindings/do crossstitch/ etc. They work great for me! OTOH- I don't hand quilt, so I'm not sure how long they'd last... but they work great for what I do! No more bleeding on my work. TSWLTH used to carry them, but don't any more. I got my last pkg. at HobbyLobby when I was last out in IL visiting my SIL.

Checked the pkg I have and found their website online -- They're called "ThimblePad"

ME-Judy

have you tried one of the stick on pads? I think you can get both ones intended as thimbles and as needle grips, I wouldn't say I'm entirely sold on them, but like others I've never mastered a thimble and I do find these can be a help, but wouldn't stick on on straight away, only once I saw or felt that the skin on my finger wasn't going to hold out much longer!

Anne

I've never noticed the pad deteriorate at all, I think you'd have to sew for a very long time continuously. They come in fairly large packs and it probably depends a bit on your skin and any products you use how many times they will restick.

I've also noticed some needles are worse than others, without necessarily being better for the rest of the job, so you can have a fairly fat needle that is particularly sharp at the eye end and is brutal, but a fine needle that you'd expect to be inclined to hole your skin not be quite so bad. The problem is once the top layer is gone, you're more vulnerable!

Cheers Anne

I have looked for years and never found a perfect thimble. I've used the suede discs, but found they slid around on my finger when my hand got warm and then threads would stick to the residue and catch on the disc itself. I liked the metal discs but still had issues with the adhesive. Plus, I think I took a layer of skin off every time I pried it off my finger.

I find myself using this one more than all the others I have.

The Diamond Thimble. It's really light plastic. But it works. It's kind of tight and I had to reorder and get a large. I don't feel my fingers are THAT big.

I still don't use it like I should, but when I need a thimble, I reach for this one.

Cindy