Reet Ilvese sõrmkübarate näitus "Sõrmkübar - õmbleja kaitsekilp"

Reet Ilves’s collection contains more than 200 thimbles. This exhibition displays 170 of them—a number with special meaning. As a former resident of Tori Parish, Reet Ilves, who lives in Võru County, wanted to pay tribute with her collection to the 170th anniversary of the Tori horse-breeding farm. Her brother was involved in equestrian sports all his life and worked as an equestrian sports coach. In honour of this anniversary, 170 thimbles found their way to Seljametsa Museum.   Her collecting bug began in 1976, when she was training as a tailor. At the Tamula sewing workshop, she qualified as a tailor of men’s outerwear. Sturdy materials were used there, and sewing them without a thimble was almost impossible.   One thimble in the collection is especially unusual: its top has been sawn off. It was Reet’s first practice thimble. During her training, she had to get used to sewing with the side of the thimble rather than pushing the needle with its tip. That is why the tip was sawn off—so the trainee had to use the side of the thimble while sewing.   Thimbles were not merely tools for a tailor. They were everyday helpers that had to withstand countless stitches. You can still see this on some old thimbles. Held up to the light, they reveal tiny holes and signs of wear. These appeared through years of work: the back end of the needle pressed against the thimble again and again until the metal wore through. When a thimble could no longer do its job, the next one had to be put into use.   Thimbles are small objects that may no longer attract much notice in everyday life, but for a seamstress they were a kind of shield, protecting fingers from needle pricks.