(re-post)
I'm not sure what prompted thoughts of thimbles….it wasn't that I had an immediate use for one…..in fact I seldom use one….I seem to recall my mother always used one when she did hand sewing… Hmmmm. Anyway – I started to think about thimbles and why I didn't use one. Maybe it was because they were stiff and never really fit properly. Maybe I have an in-between thimble-sized finger. What finger is thimble-oriented? Third? Fourth? I think my mom used her fourth. I favour the third.
I started to think about something flexible. Leather, perhaps. Then a bunch of thoughts flocked together and I went and got the following materials and made this:
I still have scads of tops of boots left over from making Pixie Puddlers and the rubber seemed a better idea than leather so I cut a circle from a top. Then I used the awl to pierce holes around the circumference. Next some linen thread got sewn in and out of those holes around the circle. A crochet hook picked up a stitch between each of the holes and I began to single crochet until I got past the first knuckle join on my third finger; a thimble that goes past that join is not possible with metal or plastic, of course, and
adding an extra dimension can lead to something surprising and worthwhile. Or not! But always worth the "wonder what would happen if….."This is what it looks like from the top.
I drew my bird imprint on the end; it always cheers me to sign a piece of work thusly.
I like it! What is interesting is how you can use it from the tip of the finger but it also adjusts so the ball of the finger can be the pressure point – this is a great feature.
It is roomy at the base and I suppose for fine sewing I could make one smaller and less bulky. But I tend to want a thimble more for heavy duty things.
It seems to want to be called a thimble bootee.