Basic Sewing Supplies: Thimbles

Video Transcript

" Hi! My name is Shawna on behalf of Expert Village, and in this clip we are going to talk about thimbles. Thimbles are really necessary in sewing, especially if you are doing hand work, doing embroidery, appliqué, hand quilting of course, but even in simple things as beading or anything like that, sometimes just to have that extra pressure to push the needle through makes it easier on your fingers instead of having little holes in your fingers, makes it really nice to get those needles through. There are lots of different kinds. A newer type, this is a silicone. It has kind of a hard tip. There are different sizes, but it is a nice one to have. It’s not sweaty or hot. It doesn’t stretch. It’s quite nice, and people have really enjoyed this and they are like $2 or something like that. Another type is just the metal everyday looking thimble. Usually you wear it on your middle finger. You may wear one on your thumb too, depending on how much work you are doing, but again, as you are pushing something through the bottom that you push up with the thimble, and it makes it a lot easier to get it through the fabrics. They also have some really nice leather thimbles. Usually the needle doesn’t go through the leather unless you use the same spot over and over again, but a lot of people like the leather thimbles because it is so nice on your finger. It’s not tight or it doesn’t cut off circulation or anything. For hand quilting though, one of the favorite thimbles is the Roxanne thimble. It has an opening here where your fingernail comes out, and then it sits on the tip of your finger, and it has this ledge so that you can pivot the needle back and forth and get lots of stitches on the needle, and also help that pull through. That makes a huge difference when you are doing hand quilting than just doing it little by little. The Roxanne goes really great for that. So thimbles are also a great thing to have, and there are different types for the different type of sewing that you are doing. "