How do I avoid sore fingers?

[rookie]

Sports Tape works for me. The stuff we used in college to tape our ankles.

Justin

[Handstitched]

I now have 'hard' parts of my fingers where I've been hand stitching.

I do on occasions have bandaids on my fingers......but thats mainly from using solvents and spirit dyes drying my hands out.(yeh yeh yeh...I should use moisturiser on my hands)

Once upon a time when I first started handstitching, I used to hit the roof if I pricked myself with an awl or a needle.

Now, when I prick myself , it's now a case of " yeh , whatever"....and carry on.

I think over time our hands just toughen up with use....and perhaps ...abuse.

all the best

HS

[Windom Leather]

When I started and found my fingers getting real sore I used athletic tape and that helped. I got tired of searching the house looking for it after the wife stole it for something. I dont use anything anymore and my hands are fine. If i dont stich for a while I find they start to get sore but work through it, and if they get real sore I use different fingers or different part of the pinky to pull tight. just my 2 cents

[Boertjie]

I noticed that this topic is more than a year old, but here are my two cents worth ..... throw away the balm and the tape! A leather friend of mine shared the templates he uses for fingersleeves for hand stitching. Here it is, in format ready to download and print.

Fingersleevecan30001.pdf

For the lefthand, just flip over the template ( mirror image). Not shown is the wrist strap, but that can be cut to size fit and attached with the appropriate rivets and snaps. Fit to the finger can be adjusted by the stitching line, don't make it too tight. For large hands, scale the template. The indexfinger's sleeve is attached with a snap so it can be removed when not needed. Here is the finished product.

Notice the flap on the sleeve of the littlefinger. This is used to push the needle obviating the need for thimbles and sewing palms. Heavy stitching would need something more robust though.

I finished a pair of these sleeves in under an hour using 3oz suede and it will probably lasts for years to come.

Fingersleevecan30001.pdf

[CEversole]

I think everybody who has ever sewn leather has had this problem. A simple, fast, and cheap way is to buy the white tape that athletes use to tape their wrist, ankles, etc and wrap that around your fingers. Plus that particular tape has a pretty rough surface so it really helps you grip the thread and needle. Hope this helps.

-Cord