Depending on the thickness of the fabric you're trying to do handsewing on, it can be very difficult to pull the needle through.  In the past I've tried keeping a small piece of a 2x4 in the sewing room so I could push the needle down on it, but even doing that it was very  hard to pull the needle through with your bare fingers.

A suggestion that I found that works great is this:  before discarding old rubber gloves, cut off a 2" length of the thumb and needle fingers.  These two thumb/finger pieces work great on those hand sewing projects where the needle is hard to pull through the fabric.


Of course, if you want the "real deal" and would like to make leather thimbles, I'd recommend you visit  the SewingWithLeather website -- there you can find kits to make custom leather thimbles.  Can't beat that -- CUSTOM FIT - the kit includes leather and pattern that you can use to make your own leather thimble that will fit perfectly.  All you supply is the thread.

Whichever way you go, I'm sure you'll find it much easier to do handsewing on those thick heavy fabrics!