A Hand Toolkit: the Iron Gauntlet of Sewing

I made a tool that rests on the hand, and it is used to store embroidery thread, metal needles, and plastic needles. It stores three different types of embroidery thread, a few metal needles, one large plastic yarn needle, and four small plastic yarn needles.

You will need one small rectangular badge magnet (with adhesive on the bottom), a 3D printer (I used the Original Prusa MK4), a Velcro strap with adhesive on the back, and PLA filament (I used colorful PLA silk). You will also need Inventor to design the model. Also, a ruler or measuring tape is extremely helpful for this project.

You will go to inventor, and create a rectangle on the xz plane. The rectangle should measure the length between the area above the wrist and just below the knuckles and the width between the edge of your hand to your thumb. (check the rectangle on the photo) It does not have to be exact! Then extrude this rectangle to your desired thickness (I did 3/8 of an inch).

I made an extrusion on the side of the base and sketched an arc. I then negatively extruded this arc throughout the base. This will help with the toolkit resting in a natural position. The side with the arc will now be referred to as the front. I then made fillets all around the base, so it won't scratch the hand.

Now that the base is smoother on all sides, we can now make the magnet. Make a sketch on the top of the rectangle, and draw another rectangle (it will be the length and width of your magnet). These measurements should be precise. You are going to then do a negative extrusion into the base. Make sure not to go too deep. Once your extrusion is done, you should fillet on all sides to make it smooth.

Now that we have a space to put the metal needles, we can now move on to making slots for the plastic needles. If you only use metal needles, this step is unnecessary. Sketch one rectangle at the front of your work. This rectangle is meant to fit the width and height of your needle. In order for the needles not to fall out, the width must be slightly smaller (only b 0.5-1 millimeters) than the widest point of your needle. Do not be afraid to take time with your measurements. Once you made one rectangle, use the rectangular array to make 3, or more, slots. If you have a plastic needle that is a bigger size, you can repeat the same process. I, for example, made an extra slot for my medium sized needle.

Once your sketch is complete, make an negative extrusion. Your goal is to completely cover the eye of the needle. I made an extrusion of 2.5 cm and a taper of 2 degrees. The taper allows for the needle to slightly move inside, so the needles will not obstruct your fingers. For the bigger slot, I only did a taper of 1 degree to prevent significant gaps.

(do not make any fillets on the slots)

Now that all of our needles have a space, it is time to work on the storage for the thread. Make three identical rectangles towards the back of the work, and make negative extrusions into the base. (do not make it over 1/4 of an inch) The rectangles are honestly to taste, but make sure that they are narrow and parallel to the slots.

This is absolutely unnecessary, so I will not go into great depth discussing this. If you want to make your work more personal, you could add doodles to your design. For example, I made flowers at the front of my work. As a disclamer, because the drawings are small, you might not get the full detail that you originally wanted when it's printed.

Your base is now done! To make the thread holders, you start by opening a new part file. Then, make an rectangle that is the same width, length, and height as the thread holders in the base. Then, on a perpendicular plane, make a rectangle that is 45 degrees from your rectangle. You will extrude it so that it is the same length as the base rectangle.

To create the side divits, make another sketch on the same plane where you made the diagonal rectangle. Make a rectangle that is perpendicular to the diagonal rectangle. The measurements are to test, but you need to make sure that it is large enough so that you can wrap your embrodiery thread around it. Then make a negative extrusion into your base. (see image for more details) You are going to repeat this same process for the other side. (make sure both sides are symmetrical (project geometry and dimensions are very helpful for this))

Make fillets all around the thread storage except for the first rectangle you made.

On the bottom of the first rectangle, make a smaller rectangle that is the same length and height, but smaller in width.

Your thread storage is done!

You now can print! Export both files (the thread storage and the base) into stl files (make sure it is high resolution). Luckily, you most likely don't have to slice your work. However, your printer will want to add supports. I printed the base vertically, and used organic supports. For the thread storage, I printed four of them. (you technically only need three but they are easy to lose) There shouldn't be any supports for the thread storage. It should take less than 2 hours to finish printing.

Once it is done printing, remove the supports using your hands, tweezers, or pliers. You can now take the plastic off of the magnet and attach the adhesive side to the magnet space in the base.

You can insert the thread storage. I did not glue so that it can be more portable. Make sure they face in the same direction as the slots for the yarn needles.

Take your wheel of velcro and cut two straps that are long enough that you can wrap it around your whole hand and have a extra (it does not have to be exact at all). Take one of the strips, I used the rough side, and cut it so that it is the same length as the base. (refer to the image) Peel off the plastic, and attach the rough side to the bottom of the base.

For the part that wraps around your hand, take the soft strip and wrap it around your hand in a way that is most comfortable for you. Then, cut a small piece of the rough side. To make the braclet, wrap the soft side around your hand and secure it using the small rough piece. (do not take any plastic off because the adhesive is not necessary) Refer to the images if you need assistance.

Now attach the base to your velcro braclet and shake it around to make sure it is secure. Adjust as necessary.

You are now done! If any of the parts are not to your liking, you can always adjust and edit them.