vintage thimbles and thimble holders

Friday’s Favorites today is focussed on my collection of thimbles and thimble holders. I really never used a thimble in my hand sewing until I started to embroider jeans and work shirts which are thicker than the muslin or cotton that I was used to. Wikipedia has a long history on thimbles which is quite interesting.

My collection grew when I inherited an old sewing chest that had belonged to my grandmother. It was curiously filled with all sorts of wonderful sewing supplies and tools. Curious only by the fact that she did not sew, embroider or knit. She did however mend, which was obvious by the bits and pieces of stuff inside the chest. There were about 12 thimbles and at one point I had very irreverently made several into earrings (as you can see by the hole in the top of one of the four in the top row to the right).

I normally use the silver thimble resting idly at the bottom of the picture to the right. I have collected a few plastic advertising thimbles, a few more metal thimbles, and a colorful wooden thimble painted with a little girl. The porcelain thimble was a gift from my father in-law, and the sterling thimble a gift from my daughter. I do have a leather thimble which feels a little funny on my finger, so I don’t use it much, but it is sitting patiently in the sewing chest just in case.

The thimble holders are as varied as the thimbles themselves. The crochet hat is quite darling, with the thimble resting in the cap, and the lid opens up to reveal a piece of felt to insert your needles into, I found this at an antique store. The crochet pocket is attached to a huge wishbone, which is covered in crochet with tiny balls dangling below, this was given to me by a friend.

There are a few metal thimble holders, and one that is made from metal and celluloid. These all hold individual thimbles, some also include a needle or two. A few have self tops of the same material they are made of like the yellow one, the gold embossed one and the colorful celluloid one. The green and the light blue one are capped by the thimbles themselves, with a spool of thread inserted into the green one. Most of these were given to me by my mother in-law and they belonged to her mother. The gold and silver cases were purchased on Ebay, and they came from England.

What is your favorite thimble? Can you find it?

Enjoy, Christen