Do you know what a digitabulist is? Posted on July 16, 2025

A digitabulist is a person who collects thimbles. Thimbles, an essential tool of hand sewing, go way back. Apparently people wanted to protect their fingertips while they used sharp needles.

The Scott Family Collection has a number of thimbles, including two very old thimbles, both owned by daughters of Henderson and Margaret Scott. The gold one is engraved, “Mamie from Mama.” The silver one is engraved with the initials, “S. L. K. S.” The owners were Mary White “Mamie” Scott, (1865-1953) and her older sister Sue Lizzie Kerr Scott, (1863-1907). Most thimbles are dimpled so as to guide the needle more expertly. These dimples are called ‘knurling’. Thimbles were usually stored in a case, such as the one depicted here.

In the past, young women started sewing at a very early age. Samplers, as they are called, gave girls the opportunity to practice their stitching, and of course, there was always mending and sewing to do for themselves and their families.

Many thimbles have numbers on the rim, indicating their size. The thimble was usually worn on the middle finger, and of course, finger size varies. The gold thimble we have at the Collection is a number 8.

Women often gathered together to create large sewing projects, such as quilts. Even though machine stitched quilts are available today, a hand stitched quilt is considered quite a wonderful possession and some can command high prices.