Ancient Roman Thimbles

If you've ever sewed before, then you probably know what a thimble is and ancient Roman thimbles were used in Rome. A thimble is a small piece of metal that you use to protect your finger that is holding the fabric while sewing. This tool was used in Ancient Rome and it's interesting that it is still used today all around the world.

When sewing, you commonly hold the needle on one hand and hold the fabric with your other hand to put the needle through. Ancient Roman thimbles protected the fingers holding the fabric. It's not uncommon for somebody sewing to accidentally prick their finger with the needle so thimbles were used as protection.

Some believe most Ancient Roman thimbles were made out of bronze but there is debate on whether roman thimbles were made of metal at all. In anycase, they are very rare to come by. You can usually see them on display in a museum along with many other tools that the Ancient Romans used. The thimble had small holes to allow moisture to escape. A thimble without holes will soak up your finger tips, making it feel like you were dipping them in water.

The Ancient Romans probably started with a thimble that fully covered the finger but noticed that finger tips would get moist and sometimes it would get hard to remove it from their fingers because of the moisture. It is unknown why bronze was used for these thimbles as thimbles were made out of many different types of material from wood, glass, to even ivory.

Today, these thimbles are hard to come by and are often collector's items. They all come in various sizes as thimbles needed to fit the user's fingers. Thimbles and other tools can be found in display in various museums with Ancient Roman collections.