The Complete Handbook of Thimbles & Sewing Palms

I've been doing historical costuming for about 8 years and always just grabbed whatever thimble was at the craft store. The section on dimple geometry and how it affects needle grip really opened my eyes. I switched to a different pattern and my hand fatigue on long seams is noticeably lower. The book is a bit dry in the middle when it gets into the archival history of specific manufacturers, but the technical chapters are entirely worth it.

I run a small upholstery shop and this has become the standard reference for my two apprentices. We used to just order the same brass thimbles we always bought, never really thinking about why. This handbook's chapter on fitting is brilliant - it walks you through measuring and how a thin leather liner can fix a loose fit. It saved us money and it's improved our work speed. It's the Nuts & Bolts reference I've been needing for twenty years.

As a leatherworker making holsters and heavy bags, I live and die by my sewing palm. I bought this on a whim and found it to be the only definitive source on the subject I've ever seen. The chapters on choosing between a saddle palm and a solid steel one, and the section on the mechanics of pushing with your body weight rather than just your fingers, are worth the price of the book alone. Highly detailed, no fluff.

It's informative, but it felt a little more academic than I hoped. I was expecting more discussion on contemporary ergonomic options for casual hobbyists like myself. Half the book is focused on heavy industrial and leather use. That said, the maintenance chapter is fantastic and I've already used the advice to save a thimble I thought was ruined when it got dented. Solid reference, just not perfectly centered on my use case.

You can tell this was written for a professional, and that's both the strength and the weakness. It is incredibly detailed about materials and mechanical properties, which is great if you sew rope and leather. However, for someone who does delicate craft sewing with finer needles, I found a lot of the advice overkill and somewhat irrelevant. The troubleshooting guide is well-organized though, saves you from searching through four forums.

The book definitely knows what it's talking about. It gave me a great understanding of why thimbles fail and how to fix them. I read the chapter on sewing palms twice because I had no idea there were so many variations in the 'cutting board' shape and how the throat angle affects the application of force. I docked a star because I wish it had pictures; the diagrams in the usage chapter are useful but basic.

While this book covers the ground it says it does, the glossary in the back is probably the most useful part for me. I am a collector of antique sewing tools, so I bought this to get a better idea of the functional side versus the antique side. The profiles of how modern historical replicas are manufactured versus how the originals were made in the 1800s is a fascinating and unique piece of writing. Four stars because it focuses less on the antique value than I'd like, but it's a great standard resource.