Hello, reader. How are you doing? Do you sew? I like making art embroidery, and more recently, I’ve been amending my clothes. This morning I was sewing a patch on my purple sweatshirt jacket and realized that anything harder than your hand can be a thimble.
conversation
“Sewing actually takes a lot of hand strength,” I told Ming. “All these things I was told were for people who are weak and femmey, it’s actually not true.”
“Right,” Ming said.
“Birthing a human being– not weak,” I said.
what a thimble is for
A thimble is for helping get the needle through layers of cloth. It’s something to push the dull end against, to force the needle through.
Definitely I have bent needles and broken needles by asking too much. You know me– I’m always making do. Always I’m working with free materials and whatever I have. Things my mom gave me 15 years ago, things I found in the free room.
things I have used as a thimble in order of frequency
- my phone
- my computer
- desk
- needle case
- part of the interior of a car
Notable thing I have not used as a thimble: A thimble.
Definitely I have played with thimbles and popped them on and off a finger. But I never had one when I needed it while sewing.
anything harder than your hand can be a thimble
It helps if the surface I’m pushing the dull end of the needle against has some texture to it, for purchase. My phone has a slightly rubbery case, which is perfect. It can dig in. My computer has stickers all over it, which can help too.
My desk is slippery and not ideal as a thimble, but it’s so available when I am sewing at home at my desk. Putting a cloth over it can help.
A car interior I should not use as a thimble because I might harm it. So that’s desperation.
questions for discussion
Are you crafty?
Do you enjoy improvising tools?
Do you have a lot of gear?
What kinds of sewing do you enjoy?
Do you like the thimble scene from Peter Pan?
What have you used as a thimble?
5 replies on “anything harder than your hand can be a thimble”
My mom used thimbles all the time. Because when I hand-sew it is mostly with my handwoven fabrics, I don’t need thimbles. But your writing made me think – there are times I do push through my own agenda, urgencies, desires. What are my inner thimbles? When that a good thing and when might I better surrender to outer resistance?
gmorning, dear one. I like your ideas of pushing through. thank you for being an amazing reader. I love you.
I love you too, dear heart.
Funny,
But I am not a thimble user either. I have always used whatever is around, too. When I was a kid and I tried a thimble, it was too big and wobbled around on my finger and felt awkward. So I never got into using them.
I like Canyon’s ponderance, about what else they use to push through personal desires, and when is it helpful or not.
What I am thinking, is that I often will put a lot of energy into thoughts, and write them, and then get a new piece of information that makes all my thoughts and writing feel like a partially irrelevant riff on, what now with the new info at hand, feel like what might as well be a fictional situation. What I am grateful for is that I am no longer compulsive about sharing that writing or those thoughts if it involves trying to help others. I sit on it, let go of urgency, learn more. What a relief to let go of my urgency.
Thimbles. I think its good to be able to feel the end of the pin sometimes, to know a small bit of what I am pushing forward into the world.
I like what you say about new info making a situation so different. yes, I enjoy letting go of compulsions also. I love you, friend. hugs and hugs.