(soft music)
- Hello, and welcome
to this week's episode.
And today we have something very exciting
and slightly scary to talk about,
because I know how scared you all are of
this crazy metal contraption,
the vicious, the terrible,
the oh so confusing thimble.
(chilling music)
(woman shrieks)
Today I'm going to talk
to you and explain to you
a good way to learn how
to use a metal thimble.
(intense metal music)
Just like Meemaw used to do.
One of the things I hear
the most from people
when they see me sew with a thimble
is they go, "Oh, I can
never use a thimble.
I've tried, I just can't do it,
it just doesn't work for me,
it's not comfortable,
I can't hold a needle,"
blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah.
And I just kinda look at them, because...
Well, one, I don't really
ever know what to say to that
'cause it's one of those weird compliments
where you're like...(chuckles
uncomfortably)
Okay. I don't know what to say.
- I like turtles.
- But that's why I'm doing this video,
because I realized if I do a video,
then I can kind of, well, say
what I always wanted to say.
Most of us in the world today
are not taught how to sew correctly.
You're self-taught, right?
You picked up a book,
you watched some YouTube videos,
you read a couple blogs
if you're an elder millennial like I am.
- Yes, gather around
the Snapchat, children.
- And you just kinda went
at it, which is awesome.
Like, don't get me wrong. That's amazing.
But we, as a collective unit of people,
we weren't really taught how to hand sew.
We were taught how to machine sew,
because that thing could kill
ya if it really wanted to.
And so because of that,
because of that lack
of educational process,
has resulted in us,
as a collective unit of people and makers,
not necessarily always
having the best technique.
A thimble is a tool.
It's just as much an
important tool in your toolkit
as your scissors, as your
needles, as your thread.
It is just as vital and just as important
as anything else that you
have in your sewing kit,
but it is the most often overlooked
and ignored and discarded
piece in your sewing kit,
because people just haven't
been taught how to use them.
The reality is, though,
is that we need them.
If you're gonna to do a lotta hand sewing,
you need a thimble.
You need it to protect your fingers.
You need it to be able to
stitch quickly and efficiently.
It is, it is...
It makes such a big
difference in your sewing.
And when I when I hear people go,
"Oh, I can't use a thimble," I'm like,
"You are totally cutting
yourself off at the knees here."
- Right!
- [Black Knight] Right!
I'll do you for that!
- You'll what?
- [Black Knight] Come here!
- What are you gonna do, bleed on me?
- Oof! You will pry this
finger off my cold, dead...
This finger.
You will pry this thimble
off of my cold, dead hands.
Let's get right into it,
because I've been doing that YouTube thing
where people do these
massive-ass long intros
and that's completely beside the point.
First things first: size.
Your thimble size is determined
by your finger size, just like a ring.
Most thimbles that we
have available to us today
are not sized, or they're very
rudimentary in their sizes,
like small, medium and large.
But when you look at antique thimbles,
you're gonna to see a
little number on them.
And that number can vary.
I've seen anywhere between 4 and 13.
I would wager it probably goes down
even smaller than 4 for children,
but you know, just basic numerical sizes.
Between that range, it's going to vary
over how big and how
long the thimbles are,
so what you want, in order to have
a thimble that works for you
and your particular hand,
is you need to find a thimble
that fits your fingers.
There are really, really,
teeny, teeny-weeny thimbles
that are like, yeah, a size 4.
It's not necessarily that people actually
had hands this small.
I mean, I know some adult women who did.
And don't forget, children
also were learning
how to sew with thimbles.
This size 4 thimble that
was my great grandmother's,
it's great, it's awesome,
it's beautiful, It's super oldey-timey,
it's engraved with her
name on it, I love it.
I will never sew with this
because it fits my pinky.
I have to have a thimble
that fits my finger.
You cannot sew with a thimble
that doesn't fit your finger,
and I think a lot of people grab a thimble
at Joann's or somewhere
and they put it on and
it doesn't really fit
and so it's hard to use, it's
not flush with their finger,
and they can't use it for good
reason: it doesn't fit them.
So, for example, this brass thimble
is marked with a size 8, so
this is a size 8 thimble.
That's actually a really common
size for most adult women,
but I don't have delicate baby hands,
I have pretty big hands.
So it kind of fits, but
I can't sew with this
because I have several
centimeters of space
between where my finger ends
and where the thimble actually ends,
because it's too narrow to
go around my middle finger.
So I have to have a thimble that fits.
I wear a size 12 thimble.
If it's really, really hot
outside and my hands are swollen,
I will even go up to a 13.
It goes almost to my
knuckle, my top knuckle,
and my finger actually is flush
against the top of the thimble,
so it becomes a part of my hand.
I can do most anything with this on,
because, one, it fits me, it's
not flinging off anywhere,
two, it's flush to my finger.
So this is what's important.
It has to fit your hand.
If it doesn't fit your hand,
you're never gonna use it
because it doesn't fit.
You can also have
thimbles that are too big
and then they'll fall off,
you can't really get security,
so having a thimble that
fits is extremely important.
What finger do you wear your thimble on?
You you wear it on your
middle, dominant hand.
So if you're a right-handed person,
you wear it on the middle
finger on your right hand,
If you're a left-handed person,
you wear it on the middle
finger of your left hand.
You don't wear on your index finger.
The thimble is meant to
push the needle through.
Your middle finger is the one
that pushes the needle through,
so you need to wear your
thimble on that finger.
Wear the damn thing. Put it
on and don't take it off.
- Rule Number 76: no excuses,
play like a champion.
- I wear mine when I go and get coffee.
I've worn mine on the computer.
I've worn mine eating food.
I've even worn mine going to the bathroom,
which is really awkward, but there we are.
You just gotta wear it, okay?
Just wear the thing and get used to it,
because once it becomes
a part of your hand,
then you can just move and go
with it as much as you want.
It's not a big deal.
I will say if you're into
really long fingernails,
this is not gonna work for you, okay?
I'm just gonna be really honest.
The nail on my middle, right hand,
you can always tell if
I've been sewing a lot,
or if I haven't been sewing,
by how long the nail is.
This is a personal preference.
I can't stand the feeling of a fingernail
on the silver thimble, it
gives me the heebie-jeebies,
so I always like to keep that fingernail
really, really, really short.
If you're really into long fingernails,
unfortunately, this isn't
really gonna work for you
and you might need to look
into a tailor's thimble
that is open at the top,
so that way you can
have your nails and sew.
This might be a little
different for some of you,
but basically, what you wanna do
is you wanna hold the needle
between your thumb and your index finger,
and I kinda end up hanging
out around halfway through,
a little bit more towards the front,
and then giving yourself space
for the thimble to rest on the back.
And these groups are going to
catch the end of the needle,
which is why they're there,
and it'll help anchor it
when you're pushing it through.
Now, you can use either
the tip of your finger,
if you have a thimble like mine on,
or you can use the side of your
thimble to push it that way.
So hold the needle like that,
and then either right there at the top
or there at the side,
and then your pinky out here
ends up catching the thread
and you use that as a
way to control tension.
- [Class] Swish and flick!
- Now I'm gonna actually just sew.
I'm just gonna do some
basic running stitches
into this fabric, just to
kind of give you all an idea
of what this looks like.
And I either hold my fabric
between my index finger and
my middle finger like this
and use my thumb to control it,
or I will do something like this.
It kinda just depends on what I'm sewing
and what my fatigue is like.
And I also use my pinky
and ring finger here
to help hold the fabric
get tension, right?
So we're just basting.
See the finger's like this?
And I'm using the thimble
to push the needle through, right?
And the idea here is that
you're gonna want to help
make fluid stitching motions.
And then the nimble
pushes the needle through.
And that's why we wear
it on our middle finger.
(soft orchestral music)
Thing you might be asking
yourself right now is,
"Well, Abby, that's all well and good
and I'm super happy for you and...
10 points.
But how do I know what size
thimble I'm supposed to order?
Because you know what size you wear,
but what size do I wear?
Because I don't have your hands?"
And it's a good question.
I've done some research online.
Unfortunately, this is a
part of the broader problem
of just people not using thimbles
and information not really being there
that needs to be there.
There are size gauges and
ways to measure yourself
for what size thimble you should need.
And I have posted all that information
in the description below.
I'm not going to go into it
because I think it's
kind of long and boring
and slightly redundant.
My whole point is that
you should just wear
a thimble that fits you.
Also, when it comes to
purchasing thimbles,
you can buy vintage ones,
antique ones on Etsy or eBay.
If it's any sort of
seller worth their salt,
they'll mark the sizes.
I personally have found that the sizes
on antique and vintage thimbles
are basically the same
as modern sized thimbles,
so just kind of keep that in mind.
Once you know you're a size 12,
you're pretty much always
going to be a size 12
in metal thimbles.
Now, as for modern silver thimbles,
where I get them, you can just look up
Simons Co. sterling silver thimbles
and you will find retailers online
that are selling sized silver thimbles
at different price points.
If you want the best deal though,
I would definitely look at
vintage stuff on Etsy and eBay.
Modern thimbles can be
a little bit pricey,
especially if you're gonna get
a sterling silver or gold one.
All right, everyone, I hope this video
has been helpful to you
and has empowered you
to try a metal thimble of your own.
If you have any questions, leave
them in the comments below.
I'll do my best to answer them.
I hope you all enjoyed this episode,
because I love my thimble,
I want you all to have the best
sewing experience possible,
I personally believe that it
involves wearing a thimble.
And until then, I will see
you all next week. Bye!
(upbeat music)
This is me doing a sound test.
I'm pretty fun to do.
No, that's super dorky.
I'm not saying that. That's real dumb.
Oh, wow. That wasn't English.
(Abby imitates gunshots)
Thimbles!
An option, really. It's-
(dog barks)
Sweet.
(dog barks)
A wide variety of...
Ow, (beep).
Okay, well, I'll see how
many times I bite my lip
for the rest of this video.
Wow, that's crazy. These are different.
(Abby grunts)
Not dominant.
Submissive? The...
Whatever. (laughs)
