Thimble Round Up



Thimbles are extremely helpful for protecting your fingers during hand sewing.  Apparently they are very, very old.  Here is a brief history of thimbles.  The Fingerhut Museum in Creglingen, Germany is the only dedicated museum in the world.  I find this hard to believe!  Everybody has thimbles, even the Cherokee Museum has a very colorful one.   You can buy a Royal Wedding- Will and Kate commemorative thimble too.  Here are State Thimbles.  Nancy's Notions carries some cute thimbles.  There is even a Museum of thimble holders and items holding thimbles.    What about functional thimbles though?  Clover thimbles is a good place to start.  To find just the right size try here.  And, in case you didn't know, thimbles are supposed to be worn on the middle finger of the dominant hand (or where ever works best for you!).

Antique Sewing Machine!

My New Antique Sewing Machine!
Originally uploaded by Kim Naumann - Curiouser & Curiouser Designs

Beautiful! I love the vibrant colors. I wish my old machines look this good!

Kindernähmaschinen - Toy Sewing Machines

Kindernähmaschinen - Toy Sewing Machines
Originally uploaded by *Püppilottchen*

Again, cool machines on flickr!

Unusual Fun Sewing Machines

new sewing machine
Originally uploaded by malisonian

I found this on flickr. I love the color!

Sewing Tools in Antique Box

This is a really neat box I found in an antique store years ago. The unusual ends caught my eye.

When I opened it up- wow! Sewing machine feet that actually fit my Singer! I think the whole thing cost $10.00. It is lined in plum velveteen.

I don't know if the contents are original because the clips have numbers on them and only some of the attachments match up.

This collection of rolled hemmers all have corresponding numbers. Also in the box are a ruffler, zipper foot, seam guide, and quilting guide.
On the top of the box it is marked "patented 1889 February 19". Pretty neat!

Singer Sewing Machine

My old friend. This Singer Fashion Mate from 1977 was my first sewing machine and a real workhorse. Made for home use, it spent years sewing 6 hours a day sometimes and never complained. Not fancy but it could do anything I needed it to. It finally died in 2009. Replaced but not forgotten. I always advise beginning sewers to check repair shops for used machines (that's where I got this one!).

Gallery of Pin Cushions

Pin cushions can be made out of all sorts of things. Here are 3 antique ceramic cushions. The lovely lady in the middle was made from a face powder container.

This is a pillow with elastic attached so you can wear it on your wrist.

Here is my Colonial Mouse that is a pin cushion and much more! I attached pockets to her skirt so she can carry all kinds of small tools and notions.

I believe this child's shoe is from Turkey. Both my kids wore them when they were about 2 years old. I made a pin cushion by stuffing it and then covering it with fabric.

I organize my machine needles in this one.

I made this from a pill container with steel wool in it. It is supposed to sharpen pins stuck in it. I covered the label with contact paper.

My daughter made me this one when she was 8!

I made this one.

Here is a bird from my grandmother's sweater. Stuffed with pillow stuffing and weighted with polished rocks.






I hope this inspires you! Let me know what fun or unusual pin cushions you might have.

Product Review: Binding Buddy

A friend of mine picked up a Binding Buddy on a recent trip to Florida. It works great! One end unscrews so you can slip the quilt binding on. You wear it around your neck while you sew the binding in place. What a great simple solution. The Binding Buddy works for couching yarn too. Visit http://www.quilttilyouwilt.net/ to get yours!

Miniature Sewing Machines and Iron

Unfortunately, I don't have much information on any of these. The red one is battery operated, made in Germany, 1945-50? The other two are crank operated. The iron looks like it could be heated and then the handle would be attached for ironing. Does anyone have any info to share? I think they are really neat and would love to know more!

My Favorite Basic Sewing Tools

Here is a list of the basics. Things to pack for sewing classes.

1. clear 2" wide plastic, see-through ruler with a metal strip down one side


2. hem gauge, also known as seam gauge, with sliding marker, 6"


3. seam ripper


4. good shears, mine are 8" chrome Gingher


5. pins


6. hand needles


7. iron


8. rotary cutter, mat, weights


9. sewing machine: foot pedal, bobbins, machine needles, instruction book


10. machine feet: basic, zipper, walking (not necessary, but nice to have)